Veritaserum: A Cedric Diggory Story
by A Beautiful Insanity
Summary: Bad luck don't come easy for thee Cedric Diggory. He believes he will be one of the greatest Quidditch players of all time. A reporter by the name of Isabella Granger is about to change all that. She believes he could be one of the greatest Wizards of all time. Cedric begins to realize what he actually wants compared to what he has is the thing that separates him from the two.
1. Veritaserum 00 Prologue

**_Prologue_**

* * *

"Isabella, wait! You don't understand!" I chased the accused spy into the dark forest, having a temper worse than a Hungarian Horntail. Branches blocked view of her silhouette as it disappeared through the leaves. I kept running, not bothering to pay any attention to the burning in my chest. I had been taught strength was better than weakness. I kept going, stumbling every now and then to catch myself before plunging into a hole. The forest presented hazardous traps meant for witches and wizards to fall. Centaurs built them to keep us out after Francis became the new Divination teacher. He was exiled, and Dumbledore took pity.

"Isabella, stop!" My breathless voice boomed through the light drizzle. She stopped, and I finally caught up.

"What!" She seemed more angered than before so I kept my distance to make sure she wouldn't slug me.

Not like the last time.

"Just, hear me out." The last words heeded her fierce expression. I relaxed while pulling my soaked and muddy robes off the ground.

"I want to know the truth, Cedric!" Isabella motions with her hands in the air, and I stare weak-willed to explain.

"Isabella," I start.

"No, don't give me some stupid excuse! I want the truth." I stare more before beginning to speak.

"Isabella, just trust me."

"How can I? Whose side are you on?" She becomes more angered and turns to walk away. I grab a hold of her wrist and twist her back into my arms.

"I can't tell you."

"Why?" She whimpers.

"Because I can't!" I holler and pull back, breaking our linking grip with each other.

"Just tell me, Cedric!" It was my turn to want to run away from the truth like she had. I couldn't tell her even if she was dying.

"I can't," I mutter feeling exhausted.

"If you love me..." She steps towards my back. I feel her warmth and turn my neck to peak at the stubborn witch. "...tell me." A stream of blue light crosses between us. We both scream, and I pull her down to the ground. My body concealing the blows coming from the shadows.

"Come on," Isabella lifts her body from the mud to run.

"No!" I shout trying to reach her arm before I hear the dreaded words. I feared they'd come.

"Avada Kadevra," A voice yells and the permanent green streak follows the command.

Death Eaters.

"Avada Kadevra," I fire the unforgivable curse from the same spot and hear a scream erupt, followed by a thud. I relax and turn back to Isabella. She wasn't moving.

"Isabella," I whimper holding her limp body in my arms. The spell grazed her side, only just. A painful way to suffer in agony. It wasn't suppose to turn out this way. Magic, the most powerful weapon a wizard could use became worthless. No one could use it to save a life. An unfortunate life that started to fade as my tears mixed with the rain. Her face appeared serene and peaceful compared to the smirk I'd often get for acting like a jerk.

Droplets pelted against both our bodies in the storm. It was extremely dark and gloomy from the depth of the Forbidden Forest. Cold, freezing rain couldn't wake our shivers. Magic couldn't take away the pain and exiled death. It was in the air so much it pained my own chest. I heaved one last time as I tugged Isabella closer into my arms. Her breathing was shallow and almost non-existent. I shoved the matted glossy blond hair to the side of her cheek. She always shivered at the touch in the castle. The warm, enchanted Hogwarts that trapped us during this weather.

It was no more.

A flash erupted from the thundering clouds, but I didn't fear the noise. I feared Isabella's death more than my will to live. Our soaked clothes clung more than before as I cradled her thin frame. It was useless to tell her how I felt. She'd never understand the hand I was dealt, and I never expected her to. The warmth in her eyes faded along with her body. Both almost as cold as ice. There's nothing I could do, and I hated it. My chin rested on top of her head as I cradled the last moment I'd ever have to tell my secret. The last hours had come down to this. I needed to let her know:

the truth about Cedric Diggory.

* * *

_****__**Disclaimer: ** __I do not claim any ownership of J.K. Rowling's literature. However, this fanfic based upon her writings is my original work. _

* * *

_**A/N: **This has become one of my newer projects since its conception back when I came up with the idea. I decided to refurbish an old fanfic and finish its contents in due time while expressing my current thoughts on relevant themes throughout the author's books. I'm not a severe Rowling fan but I do appreciate her imagination when it comes to the characters and their inner conflicts. If you come across this writing, feel free to leave a review below since I appreciate your time taken to read the chapters.  
_


	2. Veritaserum 01 Charming Luck

_**Charming Luck**_

* * *

"Cedric!" Father hollered upstairs for me to wake. I stirred a little, keeping my eyelids shut. "Cedric!" I grunt and turn to the side, still clutching my pillow. "The reporter from the Daily Prophet's here!" He screams, and I finally open my sleepy eyes. Light fell onto the floor from the window which engraved the rest of the walls to gold. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes while cupping my hands to conceal the new intensity.

Another day. Another interview.

I reach for a plain shirt and jeans, forgetting to tie my floppy shoelaces as I slide on my new brand name 'D.I.T.C.H' shoes. Laughter erupts from downstairs between my mother and the reporter. I don't need naked baby pictures in the paper. Nor do I need reports on how well kept my hair is. I glance in the mirror, rubbing my fingers with gel before pulling on my roots. Rumors tend to be true. Screw the harassment. My index finger points to the door knob and it with a forbidden flick of the wrist, it opens.

"Terribly sorry, sir. Lazy wizard, given a Saturday morning. Can't seem to wake him up." I stand at the top of the stairs, pulling a belt through the loops of my falling pants.

"It's fine," The reporter boasts, and I can imagine her scribbling more notes.

I about trip over my shredded hem of my faded blues and wobble upwards. Only as soon as I shift my weight forwards to head down the stairs, do I tremble. My feet were uncoordinated without a broomstick. Hard for me to admit. I stumble down the steps and when I try to skip, I flip over rolling down the remainder of the steep slopes.

"Here he is!" Dad meets me halfway to pick me up.

I push off the floor as if I was doing a push-up during Quidditch training. Smoothing out the wisps of hair that had fallen into my face and fixing the criss-crossed roots, do I start to stand straight. My shirt had flung up towards my chest, revealing chiseled abs. Wizards that have features like this are not lazy. I'll remember that the next time Dad speaks so lowly of me to a complete stranger. Pushing my shirt down and pulling up my pants to make sure my boxers wouldn't show was nothing but composure. I don't want a bad review. Dad pats me on the butt, urging me to follow him into the living room.

"Oh, yes. Cedric's always spending spells to fix his hair," Mother pats the shoulder of the reporter sitting across from her on the couch.

"He's quite a heart breaker to tell you the truth." I roll my eyes and I clear my throat, urging her to leave.

"It's alright Mum, I think I can take it from here." She stands and kisses my cheek before running off to the kitchen.

"Nice to meet you, Cedric." The reporter extends a hand for me to shake.

"Likewise," I sit, and she pulls it back to her notepad.

"Now son, don't be rude. She's here about your achievements." Dad rushes over to apologize for my behavior. I grudgingly appose his helpful nature. He was being rude.

"Mr. Diggory," She winces with her brows to show her discomfort. "Would you mind if I just spoke to Cedric..." Her pause causes my father's face to act confused. "...alone." He looks bewildered as I hold back a snort of laughter.

"Uh, of course." He walks off to the kitchen as well and feels offended. Serves his gratitude right.

"So..." She ticks her phoenix feathered pen to the notepad as I turn my attention back to her unbelievable nature. "...let's get started." I already wish I could have grabbed a handful of Floo powder so I could escape through the fire place. Either that, or practiced Apparition lessons from Professor Flitwick. Oh, my bad.

"You're the youngest Quidditch Captain at Hogwarts, how did you achieve such an honor?" My eyes roll upwards in angst as I come up with a Muggle answer.

"Hmm," I tap my chin, throwing her for a loop. "Well," I sigh and smirk while keeping eye contact. "I guess I was the best that showed up to practice." When I stop to wait for her reaction, it's priceless.

"Really?" She tilts her head and places her pen and paper aside. This reaction makes my brows knit as I squint, trying to understand the actions. "Do you think it's brains or bronze that got you where you are now?" She tucks a piece of her light blond bang behind the ear. I lean forward with my shoes firm on the floor. Her question wasn't part of the interview.

"What does that have to do with the interview?" I ask sarcastically.

"I'm here to find out how you made it this far. You know you've made it farther than the average witch or wizard." I take a few moments to ponder these words. She doesn't know. She couldn't.

"You've been doing research, haven't you?" I smirk a smile and tilt my head at her persistence. She blushes and adjusts her glasses. As if she needs to seem anymore like a investigative journalist.

"Yes, I have. Have you heard about something called the 'Phoenix Fires'?" My hesitant speech prevents her from interrupting.

"No," I state sincerely as I lean back in the armchair, placing my arms behind my head and shrugging. "Sorry, I don't." My head shakes, and she breaks from her stare.

"Well, that's all." She rises to her feet, and her notepad and pen fling into her clutch. They shrink to fit in the small space.

"Wait, I thought you wanted an interview?" I follow her to the front door as she tries to escape. "Wait!" I point my index finger and flick my wrist as she opens the door. It slams shut instantly, and she looks towards me with fear.

"Good day, Mr. Diggory." She states as she reopens the door and leaves.

"I hope all went well." Dad comes to my side and pats my shoulder. I look over and feel a horrible sensation of regret for the cute blond reporter.

* * *

It's too bright a Saturday morning to sleep so I decide to go to Diagon Alley. Hoping to destroy my stupidity. I'd never used my magic like that in front of anyone before. Mum and Dad were clueless as to what powers I did and didn't have. What about the lame interview? What was up with that? She couldn't have been a reporter. Reporters are snobbish folks who dig deep to try and ruin your reputation as an outstanding stud in the wizarding community -not her though.

She had the most captivating eyes I'd ever seen. And, her hair appeared as smooth as silk. I restrained my actions for touching the pure golden locks. I shake my head of the image. She's just a good for nothing gossip girl. A trash talking good for nothing but scandal and misprints. I can't expect a good review even if she was a true journalist. But she wasn't near old enough to be working for the paper. There were no wrinkles on her porcelain skin. It had a tanned tint that didn't care to mask her imperfections. She was beautiful and scandalous. What am I talking about?! She's an ungrateful witch! A figment of my imagination. A witch like her doesn't exist in this realm. Yet I feared she might.

"No," I say to myself as I correct my sloppiness in the mirror one last time. My hair was a grease pit after attempting seven different charms I used from Charmander Spells by Fredderick Gosling. It contained special enchantments to 'woo' witches and wizards of any genre. Of course, I only use it on my hair. I think maybe I should use it a little less since half my compliments are about how great my hair looks. Nah, they'll just have to deal.

I take a stance and a narcissistic pose that could make a dozen witches swoon off their feet. And, the winning smile that proved Lockheart stole it from my face. It was the perfect modest and mischievous smirk you would ever see in public. I am in the eyes of the public. Whatever I do and however I act is nothing compared to how a reporter or witch and wizard judge me. It's purely on perfection. I will not disappoint them.

"Cedric! Ryan and Jake are here!" Mum hollers from downstairs.

I'm almost finished looking at every smudge of blemishes before heading out. I needed to get out. Not a day goes by where I wish I could have gotten the hell out of my parents house and away from my father. He means well but he doesn't consider what I want for my life. It is my life, not his. He should remember that. My shoes scuff the carpet as I reach for the door. I refused to use magic again unless I needed to. It was way too risky if anyone knew. I turn to walk down the stairs coolly to meet my duds. Root word after studs in my group of close friends. It's what Muggles do for nicknames in the outside world. I'd only heard rumors about a lot of things they do, but most of them seem to be labored work and no play.

Blast Ended Shrewt! My shoelaces were untied. I can't take another tumble down the stairs this morning. One flick of my finger, and both are tied like a Christmas bow. Whew, so much for giving up forbidden magic. Underage Magic isn't near as sacred and concerning as the next unknown cast of spells.

"Hey, Cedric." Ryan does a fist smack gesture and Jake follows.

"What up?" Jake asks rhetorically. "We're gonna head out for Diagon Alley." Just what I thought. They're as destroyed as me to be going back to Hogwarts for our fourth year. It's a little sad.

"Let's go then." I say, and we all grab a handful of Floo powder.

"Where are you boys off to?" Mum interrupts our departure as we were all huddled around the fire place, ready to leave.

"Mrs. Diggory," Ryan steps up to my mother; Jake and I exchange looks. Looks like he has a plan. "We were just gonna get some school books." She eyes him disrespectfully. The one thing you should know about my mother is that she's as paranoid as Dumbledore is at Hogwarts, with a hint of Professor Snape thrown in -not kidding.

"Really?" She begins and breaks her stare on Ryan to me. "Cedric already has his school books for this year." Nice one, Ryan. She'll never let me leave.

"Mum, there's actually some new training books on Quidditch that I couldn't pass up." I state blankly, hoping Jake and Ryan would back me up.

"Rah-Right, we were going to get some books on Quidditch. They're on sale and almost sold out." Ryan stumbles through his words, and my mom looks at him suspiciously.

"That's why we came over here to get him ourselves." Jake steps in, and I'm thankful he has a bigger brain than that of Ryan's. Merlin knows his tiny brain couldn't comprehend how to levitate a spell book in Charms. He always confused the words with the one made to make things explode instead of disappear. My mind is boggled as I return to the conversation.

"So, can we leave now?" I ask as politely as a son could beg his mother.

"Fine, but you'd better hope I don't hear about some stupid mishap that happened at the ice cream shop. That poor owner was high up to his knees in dung before he gained back business." She rambles and Ryan, Jake, and I take advantage of it.

"Don't worry Mrs. Diggory, we promised we wouldn't do magic outside of Hogwarts." Ryan says aloud as my mum heads back into the kitchen. "Not that we'd actually follow the rules. They're meant for Muggles if you think about it." Ryan stifles a laugh and waits for me to go first.

"Diagon Alley." A flash of green smoke, and I disappeared in a spinning aurora of mixed colors. It's really annoying to have to use the Floo Network since it makes a wizard so nauseous.

* * *

Ryan and Jake fly out next to me in Flourish and Blotts bookstore.

"Get off me!" Ryan shouts at Jake whose piled on top of him.

"You're the one who wanted to go first." Jake announces. "So this is what you get." He shakes his butt down by Ryan's face and he shoves him off.

"Get off!"

"Are you two gonna get a grip?" I ask sarcastically and walk through an isle.

"Me? He stuck his butt in face, Cedric!" Ryan begins to turn red. Jake laughs as he wiggles his butt behind his back. I smirk as a group of girls walk by when we exit the store.

"I can't believe I hang out with you guys." I begin to walk down the cobble-stoned path, looking at the various shops. Ryan and Jake are still arguing behind my back.

"Shut up, Jake."

"No, just admit you deserved it and I'll leave you alone."

"Oh, I deserved to have your ass in my face? Is that what you think?" They stop, and I turn around to see Ryan's reaction to Jake's response. They both stood there for a moment and then, Jake speaks up.

"Well, if you were like Cedric, you wouldn't need an excuse to get some..."

"Quit! Both of you are fighting like old married ex-witches." I turn around as I finish my statement and run into someone.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" The witch stoops down to pick up her books. I feel obligated to help and bend down to offer assistance.

"Sorry," I say softly while handing her a book entitled: Magic Minorities. She watches as I hold the book in my hand, examining the cover.

"Thanks," Her fingers whip it away, and I smirk while picking up some loose parchment and a phoenix feathered pen?

"No problem." I state as we both stand up straight. "I'm Cedric Diggory, and you are?" Her face freezes in shock, and her wisps of blonde hair float onto those rosy cheeks.

"I believe we've met." She says stubbornly and turns to walk away. I grab her arm to get her to slow down and stop.

"Wait, why did you interview me without giving your name?" She stops, not turning around because she knows I'm standing right behind her, demanding an answer. "Don't you think that's a little rude?" She takes her time turning around to stand face to face.

"Isabella," A hand extends for a second time, and I pull it up to my lips.

"Nice to meet you, Isabella." She smirks while taking back her own hand.

"Don't push it." Isabella demands I keep my arrogance down to a minimum. How can anyone demand that?

"So..." She begins to walk off toward Quidditch Supplies. "What were you doing at my house anyway?" I can almost imagine her rolling those beautiful hazel eyes.

"Nothing," The door dings as we enter, and I follow her into the store. She's not getting away that easily.

"Well, what was the whole fake interview about then?" Isabella growls in angst at my interrogation. I didn't hear her asking if I was persistent during the questioning; but, she should have.

"Will you quit stalking me." I stop while she turns to face me. "People are starting to stare." I look around the shop seeing as we're about the only ones in there.

"Really? Do you see dead people or what?" I laugh, and she tenses her mouth in a grimace.

"You're annoying, you know that right?"

"No, you're crazy, have you been tested?" We're standing in the middle of isles three and four: Quidditch Clippers and Bristle Extensions.

"I think the interview's over." She stumbles to walk back down the isle, only I'm standing in the way.

"It's funny you should say I'm the one stalking..." I shift left and right, blocking her exit. "...since you're the stalker." I grab the book I'd studied before from her arms, and she reaches to take it back.

"Give me back my book!" She doesn't jump to get it back and instead, steps back to wait for me to hand it to her.

"Let's see, Magic Minorities. Hmm... sounds interesting..."

"It should..."

"And why is that?" I say mocking her bitterness.

"Never mind, just give me my book back." She yanks it away and walks out. I follow confused on how the hell she couldn't tell I was messing around.

"Aw, come on. You're not mad at me are you?" Nobody can stay mad at me long not even her.

"It's guys like you that make me wonder why the hell I try getting an intern job on the paper." Isabella smoothes the light blonde hair out of her face and glares directly at me.

"Hey, Cedric!" Jake hollers from a ways down the street. "Ryan back fired a spell!" I look briefly to see Ryan's head the size of an air-balloon. Is it seriously my fault wizards can't control their magic? Fine then, blame it on me.

"What?" I shrug and smirk right back to Isabella. She rolls her eyes and motions that 'you're all idiots' look on her face.

"Exactly."

"Wait, you can't possibly tell me that I'm more horrible than the Death Eaters destroying our community." We keep walking our way down the street. Why does she have to walk so fast? Once I jog to catch up she turns around a corner.

"It's not the Death Eaters I'm worried about." Isabella states in the dark alley.

"Then what are you afraid of?" I lean in, holding her arms to make sure she'd give me an answer.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." She begins to pull away, and I tighten my grip.

"Try me." Her eyes glow with a mixture of doubt and hatred.

"There's a new minority rising, Cedric. We're not sure what side they're on, and it's nothing we can control." The hazel color in her eyes fill with tears and I stare on soothingly.

"It's okay." I let go and wish I could have held onto her a little longer. She seemed so vulnerable it made my stomach turn.

"I should go."

"Hey, would you like to get some ice cream?" I ask, and she laughs at my offer.

"Ice cream?"

"Yeah, you look like you could use some." I smile awkwardly since I've never been the one to offer anything, only receive.

"You're weird, you know that?"

"So are you, but you don't hear me complaining."

* * *

"Oh, no." The manager from the ice cream shop waves his hands in front of his face before greeting us at the entrance.

"Think he remembers us?" Jake asks Ryan's over-sized head.

"I don't know. My head feels kind of swollen." Ryan rubs the side of his face with his normal sized hand.

"Trust me, it's not swollen." Isabella laughs at Jake's answer and raps her arm through mine.

"No! You, you, and you..." He points to all three of us, excluding Isabella from the group. "Go, now! I don't want no trouble! Go! Shew! Go!" He waves us off and we start to leave. Ryan on the other hand, doesn't know how to fit his overly large head out the door. How did he even get in? Was anybody watching?

"Cedric, Jake, a little help?" He mutters, and we attempt to slide his head through the gap.

"Quit moving!" Jake yells over the commotion of the manager trying to get us to leave.

"Get out now!" He screams more hysterical than before.

"Doesn't it look like we're trying to leave?!" I yell back sarcastically over Ryan's head.

"Here, let me help." Isabella stands back and holds her wand out in front of her.

"Whoa," Jake and I move to the side while Ryan's legs dangle, trying to catch some friction from the ground.

"Expelliarmous!" She hollers and Ryan stops moving to look at the flash of light whizzing toward him.

"Oh, shhh..." The spell blasts him backwards into the ice cream shop.

"Whoa," Jake and I exchange looks at Isabella as she blows the tip of her smoking wand and places it in her bag.

"Not bad." I state as she walks through the torn doorway Ryan fell through.

"I can't believe you let her shoot me with a disarming spell!" Ryan points over at Isabella with an accusing finger.

"It worked didn't it?" She smirks and helps up the manager that had been smashed by Ryan. Ryan responds by sticking his tongue out at her.

"Wow, your head shrunk." Jake states, and I hold back a snort of laughter. Too shay.

"What?" Ryan feels his head.

"I want you all out of my shop! You've caused enough trouble. I don't want to see you in here again." He brushes off his apron and glares at Isabella. "And you!" Isabella stammers backwards into my chest. "You blew up my door!"

"It really was an accident, sir." She pleads, and I hold onto her elbows as he spits his anger.

"You'd better hope..." He starts, and I can't take his rudeness any longer.

"Hey, she said she was sorry." I state, and he shuts up. "Come on guys, we're leaving." The remainder of the people in the ice cream shop stare as we exit through the burned hole in the wall and out onto the street. Isabella grabs her bag and clutch as Ryan and Jake shove each other.

"Thanks,"

"What?" I ask dumbfounded.

"Most wizards wouldn't have the guts to do what you just did." She turns to walk away, and I can't help but ask.

"And what's that?" She stops and tilts her head to flip her hair over to one side. It shines in the sun placed in the alley.

"You really are as cute as they say." Her giggle makes me stare on in disbelief.

"Did you just say I was cute?!" I holler after her. Her bag trails by her side as she taunts my clueless behavior.

"Some witch." Jake pats my shoulder as we both watch her leave.

"Yeah, I'll never get my head back to normal size again." Ryan teases as he comes up behind us and puts his arms around our necks.

"Maybe we should get some help." I say to Jake rather than Ryan.

"What? It's not that bad is it?" He asks and Jake looks over at me for help.

"Let's just go home." Jake walks off toward Flourish and Blotts and I follow.

"Yeah," I race quickly to catch up as Ryan stands there investigating his reflection in the store window.

"I'm hideous!" Ryan screams out into Diagon Alley. Jake and I stop before entering the shop to laugh. Poor Ryan.


	3. Veritaserum 02 Mishaps Happen

_**Mishaps Happen**_

* * *

"Cedric Diggory!" Dad greets me as I surface from the engulfed flames in the fire place. I'm D.E.A.D.

"Hey, Da-"

"Don't 'hey dad' me, Cedric!" He shouts spitting with every word. I wipe my cheek and step back.

"We didn't do anything wrong." I say grudgingly, thinking of Ryan's big old head stuck in the door frame of the ice cream shop.

"Oh, you didn't do anything wrong?!" Dad pauses to put his hands on his waist and begins to pace back and forth. "Cedric, I've already been notified by the Ministry of Magic! I know about the sequel to your little 'ice cream' explosion."

"It was an accident!" I holler back in response, but he won't settle for the answer.

"They said someone used a disarming spell, Cedric." He stops pacing and waves his hands in front of my face. I retort with a grimace and shake my head.

"Like I said, it was an accident!" I scream, losing control. Dad is drawn aback by my sudden force.

"It was those stupid friends of yours wasn't it?" He blurts as I relax back into a stance.

"I don't have to prove anything to you." I say courageously and glare at my father before heading upstairs.

"Prove that you're my son, Cedric." I turn around half-way up the stairs to glance at my father. "That is all I ask of you."

* * *

"Cedric! Over here!" Jake hollers hanging on the side of the Hogwarts Express. I walk over, leaving my mum and dad with the luggage. They wanted it to be taken care of and in my hands, especially in reach of Ryan, that would never happen.

"Tell him to hurry up so we can get a seat in the back!" I hear Ryan yell over Jake's shoulder and roll my eyes as I take the first step up the ledge.

"Shut up, Ryan." Jake whispers as I enter and turn to walk down the sections.

"Ryan, you owe me big time." I tell him directly when we settle in a compartment. He slides the door shut and takes a seat next to me.

"Hey, you should be thanking me." Ryan offers his blessing.

"I'm the one that took the wrap for the illegal use of magic at the ice cream shop." I state and nudge him to scoot over by Jake.

"Look, it's not my fault your little girlfriend couldn't keep her wand in her pocket." He says this snobbishly and sneers at the look I give him. Such an idiot that one.

"Technically, you backfired a spell that made your head get stuck." Jake replies to Ryan's excuse.

"Shut up, Jake." Ryan shoots back and crosses his arms. I lean my head against the window as we're about to start the journey to Hogwarts.

"It was your fault." Jake takes up the argument again.

"She didn't have to cast a spell."

"We should have just left you at the ice cream shop to see how long it took for them to get your head unstuck." He tosses out another blow and Ryan rolls his eyes at his smart-ended remark.

"How about I let you see how a head the size of giant gets off this train!" Ryan whips out his wand and points it at Jake while I sit up straight for once. Jake already braces himself for Ryan's wand, and they each get up in a dueling motion.

"That's hard for you to say since the inside of your head is the size of a peanut!" I snort a laugh as I cross my arms to look over at Ryan. He laughs at Jake's statement and pretty soon we all start loosing control.

"You're such a Muggle with that talk, Jake!" Ryan huffs out on the floor while Jake turns red.

"Enough, Ryan." I say after about five minutes of laughing non-stop.

Jake sat across from me staring out the window, waiting for the train to move so he could separate from Ryan as soon as possible. He lived with Muggles since his parents were killed by Death Eaters. Hogwarts meant a lot to him in a sense of regaining back his life he never had. A true Harry Potter story. Quite similar, but he knew he was different. In fact, I was the first to tell him the truth. He was on the playground at a typical elementary school. Some kids started wailing on him and just as I was about to step in, he blasted a glow of purplish light. Within seconds, two kids were stunned into unconsciousness and one killed. Jake ran off as fast as he could that day. Not knowing what powers he had and how to control them.

He was one of us. He was a wizard.

I break from the memory as Ryan confronts me. "Why? He's such a-"

"Just stop it, okay?" I say sternly, and Ryan closes his mouth. Jake glances over at me, and I nod before turning to look out the window. The train blew and then started to shake as it moved slowly. And there she was, at the gate to the train. Racing to catch up. "Isabella." I mutter before jumping off my feet and racing out of the compartment.

"Cedric," Ryan blurts as I swoosh past.

"What are you doing?!" Jake yells and they both lean over the edge of the compartment frame as I catch the door to the section. It was locked. I look back and forth before flicking my finger swiftly over the lock. It opens, and winds gush in through the hole.

"Wait! Stop the train!" Isabella hollers a little ways down the train, and I peek my head out, hanging on tightly to the side frame to the door.

"Isabella, hurry up!" I holler back, and she picks enough speed up. I know it won't be enough since the train will continue to climb to a higher momentum when we reach outside the tunnel.

"Cedric!" Isabella tries to time a jump and a turn but it only slows her down again. I reach with my hand out farther, trying my best to get a good grip. It's hopeless unless...

"Isabella, on the count of three... grab my hand!" I scream the instructions out at her, and her face about falls.

"It won't work! I'm too far away, Cedric!"

"It will, just trust me!" Isabella braces herself to jump towards the moving train. It's almost impossible to catch the ledge without losing balance. If she ever had a chance to cast a spell, it'd be now.

"One... two... three! Jump Isabella!" She takes a running stance and leaps a few feet into the air. Slow motion twists her body's weight to the side. She'll miss the ledge's edge by an inch. The plan won't work.

It will work. It will work. It will work! I say these words over and over again in my head until they become so strong I can feel them booming outside in the air. Time slows significantly, Isabella has her hand out of reach by far, and I'm determined to grasp it. My eyes close hard as I concentrate on the thought. She will make it. She has to make it. She does. I feel her hands grip my forearms tightly as she falls into my lap in the center of the section. The door magically swooshes shut behind, and I huff out a sigh as I help Isabella up.

"I can't believe I made it." Isabella states out of breath.

"You didn't think I'd let you fall, did you?" I raise an eyebrow and flash a smile.

"I don't know what it is about you Cedric..." She turns past me and brushes my chest. I grin a smirk as I watch her carefully. "...but I'm going to find out."

* * *

"Whatever you say Jake, you still talk like a Muggle." Ryan mocks Jake another time, and I'm getting about sick of listening to it.

"Can you lay off for about a sec., Ryan?" I huff out as the train comes to a stop in Hogsmeade.

"Great, he's starting to rub off on you too." He gets up and opens the door to the compartment to leave. I roll my eyes while checking Jake's response.

"It's alright, Cedric." Jake pulls up his robes and pats my shoulder. I shake my head doubtfully. I was just trying to help the kid out, and this is how he repays me? Get a grip!

"Fine." I huff out despite his answer and follow him out as well. Once we gathered our belongings at the back of the train, it was mayhem.

"Oi, Cedric!" Jake, Ryan, and I stand waiting with the rest of the fourth years on the cobblestone road at the station. "Been slacking off lately?" Flint remarks while holding up the 'Daily Prophet' with the front page flashing the burnt out hole in the ice cream shop.

"Such a sleez, isn't he?" I turn to the side to see Isabella hauling her suitcase along side us. She glances back and forth between me and Flint.

"Ya-yeah, sure." I say uncomfortably.

"Nice girlfriend too!" He remarks, and my cheeks flare. I wanted to just flick him off the Muggle way if Hagrid wasn't roaming around.

"He needs to get life." I mutter not wanting Isabella to hear; she does.

"Or a brain, but we both know Ryan won't give his up." She states, and I chuckle.

"I heard that!" Ryan yells a few feet away. He's mingling by Bell and Johnson from the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Though they seem to be feeling sorry for his injury. Hah, he should thank Isabella.

"Anyways," Isabella and I keep walking towards the front of the crowded sixth years. All of whom are more out of control than we are. One had already turned their fellow room mate into a mouse and the other, a cat. Professor McGonagal will have their heads in their house. "...that way you could catch up on Quidditch." I turn my attention back to Isabella and hear the last of her rambling. It's so hard to listen to a witch these days especially when they act cute and talk smart -totally hot.

"Uh-um, what was that again?" I ask stupidly, and she looks up discouraged at my attention span. I'm a wizard, what more do you want from me?

"Cedric! Wood wants you!" Jake hollers over by Ryan while they talk to Fred and George.

"Yeah, I think he's going to propose!" Ryan yells over Jake. I blush as I turn to Isabella to excuse myself.

"Sorry, we'll talk later okay." I stumble through the sentence and walk away as she nods and turns to her own friends. I about want to smack myself in the head for not paying attention but I get distracted easily. Who doesn't? I head over towards Wood and as I pass Ryan and Jake, I see Fred and George making kissing motions towards each other. Only guessing they were mimicking me and Wood. Lame, so very, very lame. Ugh, I do sound like Jake. I shake the thought from my head as I nod over at Wood, and he breaks away from a few of my fellow Hufflepuff team mates.

"Diggory," He slaps my hand.

"Wood," I nod, and he continues with his talk.

"Heard about the ice cream shop." I nod in apprehension that I was there and he didn't need to bring it up again.

"Yeah, it was a strange mishap." I wave my hand to get an annoying restraint off my shoulder. "That's all."

"Well, I hope Dumbledore lets you play Quidditch." Wood states, and my eyes flare.

"Ha, why wouldn't he?" I laugh at the stupid remark, not knowing if what he was saying was true.

"This is the second use of illegal magic. Don't they put players on probation from any kind of sport until they've done labors?" As he finishes, I resent sticking around Ryan and Jake any longer. It was Ryan's fault he was acting like a house elf in front of everyone. Even more so that Jake worked him up so much to a duel. And Isabella, if I can't play Quidditch because of that ungrateful witch, I'll break her wand!

"That's so Muggle." I state, and Oliver nods in approval.

"Yeah," Was all I got in response as I turn around to walk away.

"See-ya, Wood."

"Hey Cedric," I stop and shift to the side as I'm half-way between him and a crowd of Gryffindor's. "Mind staying away from my girlfriend." My eyes froze on the spot as I comprehended his sentence.

"Sure," I state grudgingly while glaring back at Oliver. A flash of yellow light erupts from behind, and rubble showers over us. I turn around to see Jake standing next to Ryan who has a weird smirk on his face. His clothes burnt to a crisp and his face blackened with smoke.

"That was awesome!" Fred and George smack each other's hand and turn towards me and Wood. We both stood there with our arms crossed. I shook my head while concealing my hand over my face.

"Ryan!" I shout out, and they all cringe.

"Looks like that's three counts for illegal use of magic." Wood states, and I glare scathingly at the Captain.

"Don't remind me." I storm off towards Ryan who takes refuge behind Fred and George. Jake stands off to the side motioning to where he was hiding. I wave him off, telling him there's no need since I know where he is.

"Is he gone?" I hear Ryan whisper lightly behind Fred. Fred smirks at George, and they step to the side, revealing my team mate.

"What were you thinking Ryan!" I wave my hands at his lack of carefulness.

"You're mad right?" He slumbers slowly, and Jake snickers.

"Mate, you have no idea." Fred walks up and places his arm around his shoulder and tugs tightly.

* * *

"Ryan, you're a complete idiot." Jake states while we climb into the carriage pulled by invisible beasts.

"Shut up Jake," Ryan and I roar back.

"Hey...Cedric?" I hold onto the railing with one foot rested on the second step before twisting around to see her.

"Isabella?" I half question her shifting eyes as they come to rest on mine.

"I..." She pauses while ringing her hands together and adverting her eyes to the ground before continuing. "I'm so sorry..."

"For what?" My head cocks to the side as her gaze stares beyond my shadow.

"Do you think we can..." Isabella motions her hand off to the side of the gravel road near a tree. I nod as she leads the way.

"Ooo," Jake and Ryan explode in the background, and I grimace.

"Sorry about that...Jake and Ryan are kind of..." Her eyes lift from the fallen leaves dancing around the ground. "...well you know... they're..." The corners of her mouth tilt slightly upward, and the words float gently through the woods.

"It's alright." Isabella laughs which makes me smirk with glee. "I understand."

"Yah-yeah...I mean yes..." Our eyes hold onto one another through a haze of fog. "...exactly."

"I know I haven't been the most generous witch in the magical realm but..." Bella pauses for a single moment, and I admire her lost. "...I believe I can dispose of Ryan's penalty."

"How?" I easily cock my head to one side and take a gander at the situation. "I mean," Grunting with exposure. "he's impossible to dispose of."

"Ello'," She knocks her knuckles against my skull as we pivot around. "Don't you think I've realized that for the second time?" Her laugh sends a paralyzing shiver alongside my arm. "Besides," We stop in sync, only a foot away from her carriage. " -wouldn't you rather knock a spell into him now than wait?" A raised eyebrow protrudes upwards in a curious manner.

"Away from the eyes of my father..." I whisper under my breath as I turn back to look at her after glancing from Ryan. Both laughing like complete idiots...

"What?" Bella asks.

"What's your plan?" I wince with my mouth shut as I stared endlessly at her lips.

"Meet me after the feast on the second floor corridor..." A girl named Claire Daniels walks past Isabella with a disapproving look as I advert my eyes for the first time in my life to the ground.

"Uh-um," I grunt while stepping to the side and out of rage of the wizard-hating target. From that moment on, everything seemed to blur -not from tears and not from Claire. Walking away gratified all my concerns about the infamous Isabella Granger. "I'm sorry," These words, although meaningful, felt harsh mouthed in silence.

"Ah-Cedric," Ryan tries to confront my absent-minded behavior without so much as a shrug in response. "Remember those Muggle rumors about getting a wand stuck-up your nose?" I sink lower in the cushioned seat while pressing my right cheek of my flushed face against the hard wooden box.

"Dude, check this out!" Jake screams over and over again like a kid high off of sugar on Halloween.

"Cedric?" Ryan analyzes the posture and stares unwillingly to believe my insane insecurities.

"Cedric, you alright?" Jake offers a plead as I stay as stiff as a board inside a coffin.

What was it about Isabella that I wanted to believe? That I could have swept her off her feet in less than a second that it took for her to counter-attack me with a curse? The back strands of her blond hair blow swiftly over her shoulders as the invisible beasts shook the ground with their hooves. Each pounding with an ungrateful yet powerful, angst of anger, or was it regret, amongst the approaching night.

* * *

"You should eat something, Cedric." Jake offers a ways down the long wooden table.

"No thanks." I mutter back and toss a stray stand of hair out of my right eye only to find it swing into place again.

"Whoa, this is serious." Ryan confronts Jake after my reply. "I might actually have to smuggle pumpkin juice into the dormitory." A few laughs erupt around our surrounding clique.

"Leave your smart-ended remarks at the tip of your tongue, Ryan." My cheeks flare as I bite intensely on my bottom lip from spilling my troubles. It's his fault we're risking our entire season of Quidditch. Partly because of Isabella, but two to one beats the scoreboard.

Isabella scores one point on my scale while Ryan scores two. He wins by default.

"Give it a break, Cedric. The only reason you're totally wigged-out about me is because of that shrewd witch." Jake's golden fork slips through the crack in his fingers and clinks against his plate. Ryan takes a breath and swallows while I take my time picking at the chicken on my plate before looking up.

"I'm tired of sticking up for you, Ryan." One leg steps outside the bench as I come to a stance and lean forward on the table with both palms spread out. "To believe that you would actually give a damn about the team is a worthless thought." Ryan glares disapprovingly at my gesture.

"I do give a damn about the team, Cedric." His voice shakes as it rises considerably.

"Then control your wand, or it won't be the only thing you'll lose." My fist slams against the table, and a plate flies over at Ryan's head. He ducks alarmingly, almost missing a shard of broken glass from my cup that had flown past his left ear.

"Did you see that?" Whispers grow down the table as the scene played out.

"I gotta go." I stumble for a moment as I unhook my other leg out from underneath the bench. A second too late, and my eyes cross with Isabella's a few tables down. It looked like she already thought I was a pitiful shmuck. "Merlin's wits," I ran up the staircase almost tripping on my black robe with every step.

"Cedric?" I took my time shifting my heels around to stand face to face.

"Enjoy the show?" I laugh heroically.

"It's not everyday a witch or wizard gets to see a plate levitate on its own." My head bobs downwards as I caress the tense strains on both my temples.

"I would have liked to see Ryan levitating on his own, but then I'd have to be casting a spell, wouldn't I?" Isabella smiles ungrateful that she had forgotten something.

"What is it?" I ask concerned.

"You have all the power in the world Cedric, and you don't even know how to use it." A blaze of hatred fills the hallway.

"I think the correct question is... How do I use my powers to keep our Quidditch team alive this year?" Another laugh sounds, but it didn't come from Isabella.

"Not up to any mischief. I hope." The one and only Professor Snape steps up behind me. All his hot air threatening to breathe down my neck. Isabella freezes like a stone statue as we both cock our heads uncomfortably to the side to stare at the torturing teacher.

* * *

"I believe Dumbledore would like to have a word with you." I huff out a heave while searching for some kind of softness in Isabella's eyes. She looked to the floor before taking off down the corridor. "Detention should drive you away from her." Snape draws his claws into the back of my hood and into my shoulder.

"I have received word of some mis-used magic and underage wizardry. Would you happen to know anything about that?" Dumbledore moves his spectacles down his crooked nose.

"Yes, sir. You see-" Snape bluntly cuts me off.

"I found Mr. Diggory creating quite a stir among my hallway with Ms. Granger." He crosses his arms and stands back respectfully, awaiting my punishment.

"Isabella Granger, Mr. Diggory?" Dumbledore asks politely.

"Yes, sir."

"Was she at all involved in this disrespectful act of bigotry?" I eye a look at Snape out of the corner of my vision before answering.

"No, sir."

"I see," He leans back in his chair as Snape grins widely in defeat but knowingly torturing. "I shall hate to inform you that three accounts of the illegal use of magic suspends all who participate in Quidditch until certain labors are completed." My head falls for a second. "I am truely sorry." He takes his glasses off and sets them on top of his desk while rubbing his forehead.

"I would be thrilled; I mean honored if I could take over the supervision of these labors, headmaster." I look from Snape to Dumbledore and plead for him to see my mistake as harmless.

"Of course," Snape's face begins to frown. "I'll make a deal with you Mr. Diggory. A fair one at that." Dumbledore stands up and walks to the other side of his desk and over to a bookcase. His hand reaches for a tarnished, jewel encrusted book three inches thick. He returns back to his chair only to plop the book onto the frail piece of furniture. A big swirl of dust floats from the binding and causes me to cough abruptly. Snape's jaw opens slowly and then closes instantly once his eyes focus on the hasty cover. The cover read: Hogwarts [A History]. "If you'll accept my offer..." Dumbledore flicks his hand over the book, and the pages shift from right to left until they stop on a specific page. "I will expect nothing less of you." I slowly reach towards the aged parchment while trying to turn the book right side up in my mind.

"Albus," Snape objects.

"It says that if a Quidditch player shall ever dishonor his team, he is to fulfill labors." Thanks a-lot for the update, Wood. "However, unless his team wins a match against an opposing house with the same curse shall a reward or punishment be given to the players that win or lose in this tournament." My eyes burned at the guilt placed upon myself.

"Isabella." I whisper underneath my breath and clench my fists tightly.

"Is there anything you'd like to tell me, Mr. Diggory?" Dumbledore gives me a questioning look while replacing his glasses back on the brim of his nose.


	4. Veritaserum 03 Kiss Me, Kill Me

**_Kiss Me, Kill Me_**

* * *

"You did what?!" Ryan and Jake yell out in the common room.

"Just listen very carefully this time, and maybe you won't misunderstand me." I lean forward and put both my hands together while resting my eyes.

"No, you don't have to explain it again Cedric." Ryan spouts out. Jake's eyes linger at my composure.

"It's for the good of the team, Ryan." Jake tries to back me up, but I know Ryan won't except any excuse for this dirty deed.

"What team?" He screams almost instantly, and I finally come up from hiding. "Didn't you hear?" Ryan mocks Jake's reassurance. "If we lose, our team's history this year."

"Don't you think I know that, Ryan?" My hands mimic a disappointed gesture. "I've tried convincing myself of every other scenario, and so far that hasn't worked out." I rest again as Jake asks a question.

"So, what are we going to do?"

"Yes Cedric, which poison should we swallow?" Ryan mutters angrily.

"I don't know." I rub my forehead till it turns raw and peak through my fingers. "If we go through with this..." I look out the glass window pane for a second. "We'll put another team's chances in danger."

"And if we don't?" Jake asks while I look back at them.

"We'll lose everything." My head sways off again as I rest my knuckles on my chin. Ryan and Jake's reflections in the glass window motion toward each other for a brief moment. Ryan keeps contact with mine in a sorrowful way before looking down.

"So how long do we have before the final decision?" Jake asks worriedly as we rush to the Great Hall for breakfast the next morning.

"Friday Afternoon." I say unwillingly.

"This Friday?" He asks again.

"Yes, this Friday." I grit my teeth impatiently while Ryan joins us.

"How many gold coins would you like to bet that everyone already..." I pull back the wooden door to see every head in the room turn toward the three of us. " -knows." Ryan lets out the last word from the conversation.

"So much for breakfast." My head falls instantly. Ryan and Jake follow my lead as we head toward our table.

"This is bogus." Jake mutters once we're seated.

"What?" Ryan and I ask.

"It's ridiculous!"

"Jake, shush." I point out that we were being stared at again.

"Correction, I bet a thousand gold coins that 'she'..." Ryan motions over to Isabella just before she sits down. " -was the one who let the troll out of the dungeon." When Ryan finishes, he looks over at my glaring fireballs for eyes and tries to stay calm in the hearth.

"Ryan." I smile generously and wait to bite my tongue hard enough so it might bleed.

"Yes?" He draws out, and Jake stares startled.

"Shut up." Ryan goes back to eating some kind of green soup.

Breakfast ended awfully. Ryan and Jake had to form a wizard shield to keep the leftover food from pelting us in the face. I hid in the middle trying to repel what pieces fell from the roof of our barricade. Jake kept muttering "We're gonna die," over and over while Ryan cursed 'bloody murder' till we made it to the exit.

"I don't think the house is taking the relapse very well." I say once we walk down the stone steps and over to the lake.

"Gee, what gave you that idea?" Ryan flicks something from his left ear.

"Part of the problem was your loose magic." Jake punches his right shoulder and takes a spot next to mine.

"So you both think it's my fault we're in this mess?!" Jake and I nod 'yes' together.

"Give me a break Cedric! Your girlfriend is just as responsible!" He retaliates.

"She's not my girlfriend!" I stand up hot and bothered from his ratty comment.

"Then what in the name of Dumbledore, is she?" Ryan places his hands on his hips harshly. Jake stands an arm's length behind my figure waiting for an answer to be told.

"She's..." I start. "She's..." My lips pout out in exhaustion. "She's-"

"Responsible." Isabella completes the statement as Ryan turns around.

"Isabella," My fists clench tightly again as I intend to pound Ryan into the ground.

"You're damn right you're responsible. I swear if our team-" Ryan continues to harass her.

I bypass Jake as he tries to reach out and hold me back from killing Ryan. Ryan glances backwards and realizes what I'm about to do. My fingers grasp the hood on his robe and yank him back making his foot fly up in the air. Jake propels himself onto my back causing me to flip onto Ryan with all my weight. Another swing with my fist, and I smash Ryan's face. Jake gets thrown off to the side when Isabella speaks up again.

"I told Dumbledore I did it." She repeats over the commotion. Jake drags Ryan up off the ground as I pick myself up. I brush off the dirt that had clung to my pant leg.

"Did what?" Ryan asks stupidly. I think I gave one too many blows.

"You told him the truth?" I ask dumbfounded while scratching my head. Ryan gets to his feet and just as Isabella finishes her answer to my question, he falls down. Jake grabs his arm hard this time to help him.

"Yeah," My head looks down a moment. "Cedric," I glance upwards again. "It was the only way to get the penalty removed." She steps toward me and touches my shoulder.

"We would have been fine, Isabella." I state coarsely.

"I know-" I cut her off.

"You didn't have to tell. It wasn't like we asked for your help in the first place." My voice begins to rise, and she stands back alertly.

"I know I didn't have to, Cedric." She begins to yell. "But it felt like something I had to do."

"Maybe you should have stayed out of it." I mutter out of reach and turn to face her smoldering eyes.

"Maybe I should have." My breathing quickens with the beat of my heart as our eyes keep locked.

"Cedric," Jake responds in the background.

Isabella walks up the stone steps and stops to turn around. Her blond strands falling in front of her face from the frustration of wrestling with the strong winds. I turn to meet her glare, and Ryan and Jake freeze to watch. "The tournament's Friday."

The last few words struck my chest hard as my air croaked. The winds howled menacingly through the trees as Isabella separated herself from the scene. Ryan and Jake carefully took their stances behind me with confused looks. I searched the meaning of the sentence with shifting eyes. A stain left an imprint down my cheek, but it was too soon to tell whether it was from the cold breeze or the piercing gaze.

* * *

"What do you think she meant?" Ryan asks me later during Potions.

"I don't know." Snape eyes us scathingly and forces us to return to our work.

"You don't think she meant..." Jake waves his whisper over the cauldron.

"No, it's not like she'd put her team in the line of fire." Jake and I stare at Ryan together. "Would she?" He stumbles on a belated answer to the question. Isabella had enough guts to tell Dumbledore, and I hadn't. For whatever reason, I decided to protect her. It wouldn't really trouble her team since...

"It takes three uses of illegal magic outside of school." Jake pours a purple colored liquid into the pot while Ryan stirs. "We only had two." My last words confuse me as much as they did Ryan and Jake.

"No, it would be three." Jake states easily.

"What?" Ryan and I question him.

"She might not be willing to put her team mates in the line of fire, but Ryan here would." He pats the side of Ryan's face as he shoves his hand away.

"Ryan, you idiot!" I take my turn and smack him alongside the head. He drops a vial into the potion.

"Again, what did I do?" He shrugs like he knows I'm going to take another whack at him. Ryan begins to cover his black eye and wince from the pain.

The bubbling pot starts to flood over the edges while emitting a strong smell and vapor throughout the room. Snape rushes past from the tables at the back to reach our mess. He smugs brightly and ruffles his collar. He flicks his wand in a snap at our cauldron. His stream of magic bounces off the gunk and flies back at him.

"Evacuate the room!" Professor Snape yells incoherently. Students started to scramble to the door as the room became filled with the smoke.

"Damn it, Ryan!" I scream when we reach the exit and huddle outside the door.

"What?" I hit on the shoulder once and then twice. "Ouch, what in the name of Fluffy, was that for?"

"The first one was for backfiring a spell twice. The second one was for causing one of the worst explosions in the classroom of the teacher whose in charge of our labors, you piece o' dung!" Professor Snape arises from the fog escaping from the classroom. Ryan and I continue to glare at one another while Jake tries to separate us. His face was tinged green and his eyes burned pure red when they reached mine.

"Apparently mischief was an understatement." He growls. "Detention!" He screams at the three of us, and everyone cringes.

Later that night, Ryan, Jake, and I tried to scrub all the cauldrons and scrape the sludge off the stone walls.

"Is it me, or did Snape's eyes actually turn redder than the color of his face?" Ryan laughs out in the corner as he jumps off the stool and tosses his brush in the bucket of water.

"He kind of reminded me of a fire-breathing dragon with that green mask." Jake admits, and they both laugh as I stay remotely contained in my area silent.

"What about you, Cedric?" Jake takes a chance and asks me. I stay still for a second and then scrub some more residue off a brick.

"Still mad about that silly little fight, aren't you?" Ryan had to use any remark to get me to talk straight to his face. I knew this and stayed on my side of the line. He knew he had crossed it one too many times for me to believe he wouldn't anymore. "Are you ever going to talk to me again, Cedric?" He stumbles over as Jake stays where he needs to be. "Seriously, it wasn't my fault the cauldron exploded. You made me drop the vial."

"At least we would have had our Quidditch season." I speak up with my back turned to him.

"Then why are you mad at me if things still haven't changed?" I turn to face Ryan.

"Because it doesn't make sense."

* * *

Some wizards lie. Some wizards cheat. Some wizards kill.

Isabella could do all three.

"I never thought I'd see the day when Cedric Diggory would pick up a book and actually read it." Granger passes behind my shoulder tapping her foot at the end of the stance.

"I'm beginning to think you like to be around me just for 'kicks'." I smirk and return to the familiar book.

"What are you reading anyway?" She yells from a few shelves away and comes back around the previous corner with a fairly large, aged textbook in one arm.

"Hogwarts [A History]." I state plainly while she slams another book next to mine on the rusty wooden table.

"Still looking for a way out?" She asks with dry words.

"No, I just felt like reading a gigantic book with a million words." I wave her off, and she shifts stubbornly to flip open her own pages from the books.

"Well, stop looking." My eyes wander in her territory for a second.

"Why?" I mutter under my breath.

"Because there's no way out... for either of us." Isabella licks her lips and turns towards me.

"What do you mean 'us'?" Her grip tightens around the binding of my book. "Only houses with three counts of illegal use of magic outside of Hogwarts get this debt." Bella continues to toy with the pages flipping to a certain page with the dreadful headline.

"The curse was meant to train even the greatest Quidditch players that there is more to life than magic." My head reaches for the color in her eyes to flash back to mine. "The philosophers in the seventeen hundreds believed Magic was a curse and a blessing. Every witch or wizard, Muggle-born or of pure blood, given the right knowledge could possess even the strongest, most-destructive magic known to man-kind. Man-kind became obsolete to centuries of the purest magic that originated in their realm. A man and wizard are purblind to all spells that seize to have existed amongst their very flesh and blood. They deserved to be cursed only because their beliefs kept them ruthless."

"Hmm," I gloat.

"What?" She asks, teasingly embarrassed.

"Hmm, as in 'interesting'." Her laugh brightens her smile.

"Aww, as in 'it should be'." Isabella's eyes roll as she smirks flirtatiously at me.

"I bet everything's interesting." Those blazing hazel eyes come to rest on mine. "I just haven't read them yet."

"Maybe you should read between the lines." Bella bites her lower lip and shakes her head before she stands to leave.

"What if there's no lines to distinguish between the ones already on the page?" I shrug and pat the page respectfully before eying her curious behavior.

"I wasn't talking about the pages of a book, Cedric." Granger slings her bag over her left shoulder and tosses a phoenix feathered pen onto the table. It rolls until it reaches the edge of the book I was reading.

"A pen?" My eyes stared at the sharp tip stained with black ink.

"Hey," She shrugs and begins to walk off. After she checks out the books at the end of the library, she turns around and walks halfway back to say. "It's better than a sharpie."

* * *

"Where are you going?" Jake asks while I depart from the feast in the Great Hall.

"Nowhere." I state immediately when Ryan confronts my behavior.

"He's probably meeting up with you know who." He waves an arm in the direction of Isabella's table. My eyes take this advantage as an excuse. Her head turns almost automatically just as I find the sight reassuring.

"I wouldn't get too close to her, Cedric." Ryan continues to probe.

"We're not getting close." I finger my face, feeling the temperature rise little by little with each passing minute.

"Seriously Cedric, you'll have more to worry about if Wood finds out." Our eyes break from their stare once Oliver traces his fingers around Isabella's back and squeezes her tight.

"Imagine the black eye he'll give you. You can't get involved with his girlfriend." Angelina Johnson acquires her advice into the conversation only for Ryan's sake as a girlfriend.

"Guys," I try to shush the surrounding chaos. "There's nothing going on between me and..." The thought of daring to look over at the couple proves insane. I shouldn't have expected the moment to be perfect. Wood presses his lips against Granger's. When he releases, my eyes look away quickly and then back up in time to see him smirk -almost as bad as Ryan. That thought crossed multiple times during the day.

"The tournament's tomorrow, and I have no idea how bad it's gonna get." I whisper amongst the ripples in the lake.

After seeing Wood get his way and making my life a living hell, I wanted to be somewhere where I knew no one would look for me. The winds had died down, and the subtle howling became non-threatening. I couldn't just sit on a rock for the rest of my life and hope no one came across my path again, especially Isabella. Wishes are like the little sparks that emit at the end of the wand. One can see them from time to time and feel they are unimportant because they are about as useful as a incantation that doesn't rhyme.

The sun goes down a little while later. Darkness had settled upon the night, and the only indication I was aware of was the glistening reflection of the moon's glow on the surface of the lake. Its mirror image was a lot like everything that has happened to me. Everything was switched around and place upside down, unable to fit into a perfect piece of a torn picture. Surely any wizard could wait and see things turn out for the better, but I'm not one of them. I don't wait for things to become better. I knew nothing could instantly be fine. Fine is the understatement of all words pertaining to its very meaning of expressing the arcane saying "I'm fine."

I'm not fine. My whole life I was taught to be greater than what? Greater than the greatest Quidditch player of all time. That title seems unfair to the circumstance of being the average wizard in my book. Not many people who pass by me consider my life to be the correct Muggle term of 'average'. If I had a choice between being a Muggle and being a wizard, I would pick Muggle in a heartbeat. Muggles know the truth, and they don't need to manipulate someone to get it. What magic is there, is true, and not of the slightest bit unreal. I want a reality where a human is average and a wizard doesn't feel the need to be great.

This is no way to spend a minute of my time staring at my complexion in the translucent waves. It looked like I aged overnight. Either that, or I realized how much lizard guts were stuck to the bottom of my sneakers. Yet, finding my reflection in the water appeared to be a blessing. I knew who I was, and who I needed to be. My father didn't rule my life; I did.

Some people know their destiny, Some people wonder what the future holds. Some people pray for forgiveness to forget their past. I wished for the simple hope to change the things meant to be changed, courage to change the things I could, and the knowledge to know the difference that lay between them.

A loose pebble lingers by the foot of the boulder. I kick my foot against it gently and watch it roll over towards my bag. It rests nested next to the tip of the phoenix feathered pen. I huff out a long betrayed breath and lean over to grab the stone. Another twist, and I found myself face to face with the dark waters. The stars twinkled fiercely with the solid crescent shape shining back to my undefined face. For a second, I was mesmerized at the image and then thrown aback by a sudden rage of hatred for being young and naive.

The pen laid next to my heel. I searched again from the disturbed waters to the ridges within the feather until a beam of light struck my spot. "Who's there?!" I holler while getting my wand ready for an attack. Leaves rustle at the entrance of the Forbidden Forest as the wind blows a breeze to cover the disturbance. "Hello?" A few steps forward, and I look back at my bag once more.

The phoenix feathered pen given to me a few nights ago in the library was gone.

* * *

"Hey, Cedric!" Fred yells from down the corridor on the second floor.

"You shouldn't be out of bed, Weasley." I straighten my stance taking the role of a school Prefect with a purpose.

"You alright, mate?" My breathing becomes more intense as the feeling in my gut grows bitter.

"Yeah, you don't look too hot." George pops up behind Fred.

"Geez," I shout out despite the fact that I knew he wouldn't be too far behind his brother. Another heave, and my stomach gets ready to lurch through my throat.

"Whoa, give him some air." They both step back together and try to use their hands as fans.

"Do you need to go to the nurse?" George offers. Another shock made me squirm a bit more, but I remained defiant.

"No, I'm fine." I wave my hand off to them as they fight over whether I really was being honest. "Just go before I give you both detention!" My voice boomed loud enough for the twins to scatter.

"Feel better." Both run off down the hallway, leaving me to cringe.

A moment too soon my body begins to reject my own commands. This wasn't what I expected to be the just of any situation, but it was dealt in my hands. I had to face it head on. Another pang hits my chest as I fall to the ground hearing the clink of what I thought was my wand. In blind sight next to the glare from the beaming light, was the swift sway of the feather. Its gleaming tip stained in a debris of ashes instead of ink. The shadow rested in my mind's eye like a reflection upon the waters at the lake. A flash erupted into a blinding light before the pen became engulfed in flames.

* * *

"Cedric, get up!" Ryan and Jake scream over from across the room.

"What?" I rub the crust out of my eyes and realize the dormitory's scenery.

"What do you mean what?" I hear Ryan's courageous humor during the rush.

"The tournament's this afternoon." Jake opens the drapes surrounding my bed. "We didn't have a chance to talk to you after you left last night." Ryan appears next to him with a piece of licorice hanging out of his mouth.

"Hope you got enough beauty sleep." My hand reaches to throw the sheets off my bed in a blind fury to get dressed faster than a normal person. "You're definitely gonna need it." He finishes and leaves with Jake out the door.

"Meet you down there in ten minutes, Cedric." Jake hollers through the walls.

"Don't be late!" Ryan follows up.

I checked my face in the mirror for any cuts or bruises. There wasn't a single scratch bleeding or a blood vessel broken. I began to wonder what kind of magic went on down the second floor corridor. A Hufflepuff robe laid to the side of my bed stand next to the dreaded bag.

"What happened to my wand?" My fingers shift weighted books back and forth through the cloth-like case intently. I scrambled more than ever to reach the first floor on time in order to eat a bite of breakfast. There would be no way I would be able to function correctly on a broomstick. "Ouch," The tip of my index finger made contact with a sharp bladed pen.

* * *

"Hey, watch it!" The end of my foot slips a couple of steps as I run into...

"Sorry, Granger." Isabella fell onto my chest promptly. She shifted a few times to get a good look at the man who not only swept her off her feet but literally knocked her off her broomstick.

"No, I wasn't watching where I was going." She stands up to brush the wrinkles from her robes. Her purse lay next to her foot.

"Really?" I get up and brush myself off. "Because I actually tripped and ran into you." A smile spreads between our faces while she reaches for her bag.

"I've gotta go." After one of the fastest conversations we've had with one another, she decides she needs to leave?

"Wait." Bella stops and a silenced thud crushes the ground floor. I look down to see a wooden wand roll over to my shoes. "This is my wand." I say, and she tries to deny it.

"Really?" She laughs.

"Where did you find it?!" I jump back up after hastily grabbing my wand and pull her close, jabbing the end into her neck. She attempts to wither away, but I intensify the pressure on her arm, and she rests.

"I found it this morning."

"Yes, but where?" I tighten my grip again while her eyes tear.

"Second floor corridor." Granger coughs out as I release my clenched fist. She rubs the raw spot on her neck while stepping a few feet away. Both of us were out of breath just staring at one another for answers neither of us knew.

"I was attacked last night." My legs crunch when I feel the need to sit down. Isabella follows my every move.

"By who?" Bella responds as she takes a stance in front of me with a concerning nature.

"I don't know."

I arise to my feet and pick up my bag. It still contained the pen she gave me. I wanted nothing to do with it if it was the one thing standing in the way of my future. Her eyes linger from my hand to the bag as I take it out and hand it over to her. She takes one look at it before searching my eyes for reason.

"Love and hate are two different things." She states, and I look away from her and into the Great Hall which had become silent.

"I want nothing to do with either of them." I walk by her only to feel an uncomfortable stare. Those hazel eyes that seemed so pure and innocent from the very start appeared to vanish underneath the color which held a truth so unreal, it threatened to promise a most fearful danger to the most disciplined wizard at Hogwarts.


	5. Veritaserum 04 The Phoenix Fires

_**The Phoenix Fires**_

* * *

The air was brisk enough to make the pounding winds scratch our faces as we headed to the tents. Ryan hung by my left and Jake at my right. Our entire team looked about as terrified as we felt on the inside. It took ten times as many breaths than the usual one for every step. We fought hard to see out to the Quidditch fields.

The three hoops nearest to our side entrance stood straight as could be. Jake nudges my arm while my eyes glaze over the picture for a split second. The Gryffindors had begun their journey a few yards down. Isabella walked with her head down behind Wood's back. Wood catches my face as I squint. He smiles out of the corner of his mouth before turning to look at Granger. She doesn't respond to his gesture and from the corner of my eye, he grunts while eying me hastily and walking onward ahead of her. Isabella notices the shield that had deteriorated in front of her and glances over in my direction.

My head instantly turns to look at the moment of relapse. We meet head on. Her eyes watered like the rest of ours, but if it hadn't been for the winds, I wouldn't have been able to tell the difference. They contained a forgotten sorrow I had never seen before since the first time we met. Did she honestly believe I wouldn't be smart enough to piece the mistakes together and trace them back to her? Maybe Isabella Granger overlooked one too many times for her own sake. I didn't feel the least bit sorry for her bloody intentions.

Our eyes depart from one another when we finally reach the competition. I cling tightly to the side pocket of my robes. My wand nestled safely next to my side, ready for anything. Isabella's robes brush the side of mine as I look up. The last glimpse I saw of her was the signature thread on the back of her hood: Granger.

"What's our game plan, Cedric?!" Ryan hollers over the commotion in our locker room. Everyone grows silent and turns to face me at the front.

"Quiet!" Jake yells and nods to me before folding his arms and standing next to Ryan. Both stared on encouragingly.

"I guess you guys already know why you're all here, today." I jump down from the bench to meet their gaze. "But none of that matters." Whispers of insanity spread throughout the crowd. "What matters is that we play this game like any other."

"What happens if we lose!" A boy shouts from the back.

"Yeah," Everyone begins to agree with the question and starts to demand an answer.

"That's not important." I scream over all of them.

"Cedric," Ryan confronts me. "It's nothing but important." He waves his arms. "Tell them." Faces turn to rest on mine.

"Look, winning is not as important as knowing we tried." I pause to catch a glimpse at Ryan and Jake. "What difference does it make if we win?!" My foot kicks a broomstick across the floor as my players back up. "It doesn't make us strong." Jake squints at this line and looks over to Ryan. "It doesn't make us smart." My eyes roll as the image of Isabella's face pops into my head. "It doesn't make us great." My father's words taunt a dignified will as I weave to the back of the cluster before turning around to face my fellow team mates. "Promise me you will play as though we have already won."

"Whoo-hoo!" Jake juts his fist into the air and hoots. My team begins to exit into the threshold with a broomstick in one hand and a goal in the other. Ryan stands by my left once more.

"Ryan," He turns a cheek to listen. "I will never hit you again." Ryan snorts while shaking his head. Jake smirks from behind me.

The trumpet signals our entrance into the game.

"Yeah," Ryan shouts as he pounds his left fist into my arm. "Let's kick some Gryffindor-" A horn blows from outside the tent as we get ready to mount our broomsticks.

* * *

"Another ten points to Hufflepuff! That makes the score two hundred to forty."

"Keep your guard up!" Wood hollers as I soar past trying to keep up with Johnson and Bell.

Johnson takes lead at the front of the formation. Isabella follows off in the distance, waiting for a pass. I speed up and try to twist between to intercept the quaffle. The winds take heave and blow my broom off course as my hands slip from the wood. My fingers attempted to grasp the last of the splinters that dug their way under my skin. Granger pauses at the situation before nodding off Bell.

A sound struck the air like a whistle and zoomed straight through the transparent breezes. One of the Weasley twins had taken aim on a bludger. I cringed at the attack faced in my direction. I couldn't get hold of my broomstick with my palms slipping inch by inch.

"Five points to Gryffindor!" The ball comes closer until I'm absolutely sure it grew more than the quaffle itself.

"Cedric!" Jake screams off in the distance through the howling winds.

Isabella rushes in a heap of blind exposure in front of me. The ball makes contact with the end of her broom as she turns to glance back and then continue with the game. I hung there in surprise not knowing why she did what she did.

"What the hell was that?!" Jake pops up beside me to help as I climb back onto the wooden rod.

"Where's Ryan?" I ask him concerned while searching the field.

"I don't know-"

"Five points to Gryffindor! The score is two hundred to fifty."

A blurred figure crosses by one of the tall tent towers. The new seeker on the Gryffindor team was fast and precise. Ryan followed not far behind as the little golden ball took a swerve just out of reach of our enemies hands. I flew out towards Ryan leaving Jake to score more points. Ryan looks over his shoulder and questions my reaction.

"What do you want?!" He eyes me briefly before continuing to seek out the snitch.

"Don't catch the snitch." I state.

"What are you talking about?" We dive into the stadium and thrust back up to level with the hoops.

"Don't end the game."

"I can't do that. Do you know what you're throwing away?!" I swallow with dry lips and nod intently. Ryan's eyes widen before retreating back to the golden ball.

Jake stole the quaffle out from underneath Johnson and proceeded to swing around our goal posts to the other end of the field. I followed the new path with considerable luck as a tree branch crossed the Quidditch match. Everything was like a whirl-wind sucking in loose garbage from the outside in. Ryan hovered next to Potter watching the threat pan out.

Isabella comes up alongside my left forcing to stay on her broom while trying to steal the ball out from under Jake. Jake takes leave and tosses it over to me. Granger's eyes shift to my position before I throw the quaffle at the hoop. Wood floats above the middle golden hoop, waiting for the ball.

The winds pick up dangerously. Bella caught the rebound of the throw as I headed straight for Wood. Oliver was flown backwards as I rammed into his boundaries. We both tried to recover from the blast but were caught off guard by a bludger. Jake whisks in our direction before the announcer hollers through the loud speaker.

"Harry Potter has caught the snitch!" Fred and George fly down a couple of yards away from our fall. Soon, Ryan and Jake approach. Isabella stays in the air watching the bickering as me and Wood try to shove each other off one another.

"Get off me." Wood pushes me into the grass as I jam his broomstick farther into his leg.

"Take your broom with you."

"Knock it off you two." The Weasley twins grab Oliver, and Ryan and Jake take hold of me.

"Let go." I state while growling at the crude Keeper.

Dumbledore walks onto the field and silences the cheers and hollers. Wood and I keep eye contact before looking off with everyone else. Isabella touches down to the side of me and clears her throat. I glance a shift in my iris and continue to stay concerned with what the wise wizard had to give.

"I need both Quidditch Captains and the team mates responsible for this tournament to leave the field immediately." His glasses slip slowly as he pushes his wand away from his throat.

"Cedric," Isabella dares to confront me. I turn away from her reach before responding to another gesture.

"Respect is the last thing Captains have to consider." Wood says and tugs Granger away from me as I scowl.

"What a prick." Ryan states at my right.

"He has a right to be." I mutter, and Jake joins our group while we trudge ahead of everyone else back to the castle.

"In all my days at Hogwarts, I have never witnessed anything like this before." Ryan glances at me while I shift my eyes over to Isabella. "Both teams were given a chance to remove this curse," He waves an arm off to the bookshelf. "...but, both houses have neither won nor lost the tournament." My head rises suddenly as a forgotten thought slips my mind from the library. "I have no other choice." The book's pages fly open and settle on a bold print entitled: A Labored Curse.

"Headmaster," I begin to talk coarsely as I attempt to clear my throat and step forward. "One of our teams must fulfill the labors for the curse to be lifted. If neither team wins or loses, than both houses must suffer the consequences and complete them before the year's end." Wood glares as Isabella turns her head to listen intently. "In this case, the house that finishes the list first will be granted immunity and be eligible for the Quidditch Cup." Harry grunts to the side of Wood when I finish. Everyone in the room stays quiet for a few minutes.

"The house that fails to complete the labors, given the circumstances, will undoubtedly be refused to compete in the Quidditch finals at the end of the year." We all stare at one another before turning to hear Dumbledore's words.

I didn't want to believe the nightmare would continue to haunt me for the entire school year at Hogwarts. I wanted to believe I could blame one person for all that happened, but we all stood side by side in the same boat. Fred and George shift their feet against the floor while I take a look at myself through the glasses placed upon Dumbledore's crooked nose.

I was just as responsible.

* * *

"Isabella!" I scream down the corridor a few days after the lecture. She pauses and turns slowly.

"What?" She asks solemnly.

"Do you think we could talk?" I ask and look her straight in the eye. Her eyes shift upwards in a surprising manner before she replies to my plead.

"Not here."

I followed her wind blown hair as we weaved through specks of students in the hallways out onto the grounds where it felt warm to the skin. Isabella traces the tracks of grass matted down from her feet before looking up at the Forbidden Forest. I rest behind her and stop to take it in.

"It happened right here." She breathes out and turns to look back at my stance.

"What?"

"Voldemort lead his army of Death Eaters through this forest." My pupils widen consistently growing larger at the mention of his name. "My grandmother used to tell me a story of how he tried to frighten the wizarding community by attacking Hogwarts. He never succeeded in his quest because of one flaw..." Bella pauses as her voice becomes scarce. "The community was too afraid to imagine such a disturbance that they eventually shut all their doors and locked out the truth. They didn't want to accept what would have happened if You Know Who had never been stopped."

Granger begins to walk a ways down the line of trees at the edge of the Forbidden Forest with her hands tucked into her pockets. She left her bag and books where I stood. I did the same as I followed her trail in the same manner.

"Isabella," She looks over to her left. "What happened here?" Isabella laughs and then becomes serious as she starts to explain to me the tragedy that occurred.

"I never knew who my parents were until I read a newspaper." Courage sets in as I listen to her remembrance. "They sacrificed themselves in order to fight off one of the darkest wizards of all time. He gave no mercy to killing their strength."

"Why couldn't he finish them off?" I ask not realizing I had asked the question out loud.

"My grandmother told me they had joined a secret society, a minority whose powers were said to be greater than that of Lord Voldemort." We both came to a clearing next to the lake by a large boulder with a chunk exposed to the right of Isabella's foot.

"Magic Minorities." I mumble vaguely incoherent as I flash back to the image of me hassling her with the book. Isabella continues the memory of her grandmother's story without noticing.

"The Phoenix Fires."

As she finishes her statement, we both look off onto the setting sun gleaming its last rays of light upon the darkness inside the Forbidden Forest. We were forced to believe what everyone else had from the papers: Voldemort had fallen once and for all.

* * *

Sometimes Muggles wish they could control certain situations, but occasionally, so do wizards.

"_Isabella_," I sat with my chin rested in my palm replaying the conversation. "_What happened here_?" My eyes shudder towards the Forbidden Forest outside the criss-crossed window pane as the rain hit the impermeable glass.

"_I never knew who my parents were_..." A distant roar of thunder struck a tree causing it to make the ground tremble. "..._they sacrificed themselves_..." The castle was filled with a hum from the quake. "..._they had joined a secret society_..." Another bolt of lightning struck the edge of the forest bringing fierce flames to tumble over the stone building. " _-the Phoenix Fires_."

"Cedric, come on!" Jake grabs a hold of my arm and twists it behind me gruesomely.

"What's wrong with him?!" Ryan screams painfully covered in burnt clothing.

The entire house had begun to scramble through the portrait hole. Ryan and Jake tried to wake me from the trance with no help as I kept rewinding the incident into an infinite number of requests. Everything slowed as the banister of the Hufflepuff crest, the badger, became engulfed in flames. Stone bricks broke free from the balcony and crushed into a fine powder onto the floor. Ryan's bugged-out eyes and menacing mouthed-out, inaudible words screamed with Jake as he pointed his finger towards the portrait. My arms flew over my head with the images spinning a million times a minute into a blurred out mess until someone took hold of my right hand from my ear.

"Let's go!" The sound that had been muted from my friends mouth's were replaced with the fumes of smoke and debris surrounding us.

"Ryan, stop!" A beam fell from the ceiling and pounded into his shoulder, knocking him unconscious. Jake instantly raced forwards to help get the broken splinters of wood off. My eyes wandered over at them and then to the person who held my stance up straight.

"Granger," I coughed out when the image of her Quidditch robe flashed across my memory.

"_Why couldn't he finish them off_?" My question survived the cross between realities. Isabella meets my blank gaze while I sink to my knees from the pressure in my chest. She tugs harder on my robes to keep my stature from falling. More bricks crumble from above us. "_My grandmother told me they had joined a secret society, a minority whose powers were said to be greater than that of Lord Voldemort_." The explanation recovered the secret which we both had tried to keep hidden. Our eyes flashed back to one another's once the ceiling gave through.

From the second the roof fell to the moment Isabella swooped under my chest, it felt surreal. Both our courage and strength simmered to the point of explosion. We became each other's protection.

A loud screech crossed the darkness. Through the ashes and the smoke, Isabella and I watched the miraculous creature soar over us. The gleam of its feathers withered amongst its powerful wings. Its eyes burned with a bluish haze. Our breathing seemed to be in sync with the flap of each punch the bird made through the air. Breathless was the tension between the connection with the Phoenix's eye and my own.

I drew the swirling colors into my dwindling eyes. Every light exposed from the Phoenix exploded into blue flames causing a flash of the dark sky to swarm through the walls of Hogwarts. To my distant right, I can hear Isabella make a terrifying scream into the dying winds.

"Isabella," I began to walk towards her.

"No," She backs into the wall carefully. The vibration from the small contact makes a stone brick break loose. My hand extends while my fingers spread. The stone jerks to the side grazing the side of Granger's left arm. Her hesitation towards the incident causes me to lose focus. Everything in the room started to blur like it had from the memories.

"Cedric," Bella catches me in her arms before I hit the ground.

"Someone get Dumbledore!" Jake shouts rushing out the door hanging on with his fingertips at the exit.

Ryan stirs very little underneath the rubble towered on top of him. The image of blood dripping drop by drop stains the small hope of saving his life as well as my own. Isabella whispers under her breath shaking at the scene. The reality that she had come at all into this hellfire comprehended the known fact of everything she believed.

"_The curse was meant to train even the greatest Quidditch players that there is more to life than magic_." My head reaches for the color in her eyes to flash back to mine. "_The philosophers in the seventeen hundreds believed Magic was a curse and a blessing. Every witch or wizard, muggle-born or of pure blood, given the right knowledge could possess even the strongest, most-destructive magic known to man-kind. Man-kind became obsolete to centuries of the purest magic that originated in their realm. A man and wizard are purblind to all spells that seize to have existed amongst their very flesh and blood. They deserved to be cursed only because their beliefs kept them ruthless._"

* * *

When I finally came to, Jake had tried to dig Ryan out before the room collapsed. Isabella could hardly keep hold of me much longer because of her arm. She was bleeding to death and still couldn't decide whether leaving me behind would be worth more than a life.

"Bella," My throat burned with a terrible tenderness. "You need to get out of here." The last words in my sentence seemed so light to the hearing that I was sure she couldn't comprehend them.

"I know." A tear began to slide down the side of her cheek.

Jake's fifth attempt to help Ryan succeeded. Ryan still remained unconscious, twitching from the massive loss of blood. Isabella tries to stay strong for more than it's worth. The tear that contained the smallest drop of fear and hatred landed on the side of my right cheek rolling off the edge of my jaw line. I look up to see her gaze switch over to Ryan and Jake like mine had. When she returned to her senses, she started to close her eyelids. She held them there tightly before reopening to the scene. We knew no one would come. Another tear embraces Isabella's flushed face as she stares at mine sadly.

"I know." I whispered lightly tugging her closer and removing the fallen stain.

Jake drags Ryan out of the doorway quickly, looking swiftly at us and nodding for approval. The color in Granger's eyes flash back to mine, but instead of the beautiful hazel, it appeared to be a blaze of deep bluish flames as we exchanged looks.

"They've taken him to the hospital wing." Johnson stood next to Granger while I limped alongside the cold stone wall on the second floor corridor.

"Angelina-"

"What's going on?" Her eyes begin to fill with a clear sheet of liquid as she stared straight at Isabella.

"Everything was destroyed." A tear sheds while her gaze shifts to mine. "The entire house caved in..." Angelina presses her hand to her mouth and tries to hold in the mounting pressure. "...a beam fell from the ceiling-"

"No," The frailty in her chest travels to her knees as the fear sets in.

"He'll be fine..." Isabella coaxes her with a gentle grip. "He'll be fine..." One of the strongest and most skilled Gryffindor chasers gives into her emotions. I stood close to the scene even though it felt like I was far off. It didn't matter how strong a person was because they would still get down on both knees and shed a lone tear for the sake of humility.

"Love and hate are two different things."

* * *

Buzz had broken out all around school last night and carried over into early morning. The cause of the damage was still questionable as were the survivors left. Jake entered through the Great Hall for breakfast racing down the side of the table with considerable worry and anger.

"He's barely alive, Cedric." He sits down across from me and exchanges a worthy hand gesture to the absurd remark.

"How bad is it?" I dare to ask him.

"They've got him hooked up to a monitor."

"A Muggle device? Why couldn't they have-" Jake interrupts my questioning.

"Dumbledore didn't have a remedy for something this serious..." He grabs a few green grapes from the basket off to the side. "They haven't dealt with anything like this before, and it's got them worried that..." His words trail off somewhere.

"He's alright." I state sternly. Jake dodges the impending theory.

"I saw Johnson along with Granger down at the hospital wing in the intensive care unit." My eyes spark at the mention of her name. "Angelina fell apart-"

"Hey, Cedric." Fred and George take a seat on either side of me while Jake stops in, mid-sentence.

"Heard about Ryan..." Fred begins.

"Unlucky for him..." George follows.

"He's doing okay." Jake butts in sipping on some orange juice.

"We didn't mean to say he wasn't." They sing.

"It's just..." George starts.

"It doesn't sound too good, mate." Fred pats the side of my shoulder when Wood arrives.

"What do you want, Wood?" I ask irritated that he would think so much as to speak to me.

"Can I have a word with you?" A half grunt, half snarl leaves my tongue as I shove my food away and stand.

"I'm terribly sorry to hear about Ryan." We walk an arm's length down to the lake. "Does anyone know why the house..." He asks when we both halt at the boulder.

"Lightning, I suppose."

"Seems odd, doesn't it?" Wood picks up a pebble and skips it along the water.

"What?"

"There's a protection spell surrounding the entire castle." My mind floods back to the Forbidden Forest.

"Uh, I've gotta go Wood." I begin to run back to the castle entrance before it's too late.

"Send my condolences to Ryan!" Oliver yells through cupped hands.

"Isabella!" I scream having doors left and right simultaneously shut one after the other.

"He's dead!" Angelina charges into my chest as I turn the corner. "Ryan's dead..."

* * *

He didn't deserve to die. He didn't deserve this.

My elbows leaned forlornly on the edge of the bridge cross-way. It had been several hours since the passing of one of my closest friends. As hard as I tried to block out the dark cloud that hovered over me, I couldn't bare to cry. This was a weakness, and I wore it well.

"Cedric," Isabella takes a place next to mine overlooking the bright shadows crossing amongst the waves of the lake. Something in her tone triggered my head to sway opposite of her kind gesture.

"Why couldn't I read between the lines." I mutter off into the breeze watching the ends of Isabella's blond strands dance along. Her head immediately sways downward before glancing at my posture.

"It wasn't your fault, Cedric." Granger states properly extending an enclosed hand upon mine.

"Everything's my fault." Our touch departs.

"How?" She asks.

"Quidditch." The word was weighted down with controversy.

"I know what you're thinking, Cedric. You're wrong." Isabella backs up and confronts me. "The curse had nothing to do with this!"

"Ryan's dead!"

"No, what happened to Ryan was an accident." Her eyes begin to water a bit.

"I saw it, Isabella. It wasn't an accident!" I pull her close, clawing into her elbows. "How is it that a stream of lightning could pass through the barrier? It's protected by magic!" My grasp releases as she shoves away to the other side of the bridge glaring at me.

"You know as well as I do what happened last night." Bella whispers daringly.

"Don't test my patience, Granger." Her eyes widen at my glare.

"Don't crush my tolerance, Diggory." My eyes burn intensely.

Our lips lock intimately after the smoldering comparisons. When we release, a shadowy figure scatters at the end of the bridge towards Hogwarts. Isabella grips tightly on my arm watching the same mystery while I tug on her waist.


	6. Veritaserum 05 Leaving Destiny Behind

_**Leaving Destiny Behind**_

* * *

Parents should never have to bury their kids, and friends should never have to watch.

I sat solemnly in my seat not wanting to look up. Everything Dumbledore said registered inside my brain, but I was unwilling to accept it. My emotions were as screwed up as my own pride. Owls had arrived only yesterday, carrying letters of sympathy. Everyone was distraught enough to follow suit during this particular ceremony.

Black banners swayed in the open air from the grounds. The students willing to attend the burial remained seated towards the front, being judged at the sidelines by their parents offering support. Strength no longer mattered in this funeral. Isabella held onto Angelina, keeping her heart alive as the coffin lowered. It was one of the most heart-breaking moments of my life, staring on disbelievingly.

One by one, we each began to rise and wondrously walk off the grass into the building. If it hadn't been for the shock of dirt being thrown into the hole by Filch, the caretaker, and a few of the teachers, I would have left.

"No!" A scream plunges through the cold air.

My eyes shift up for the second time to see Angelina Johnson crawl on her hands and knees, clawing at the pile of dirt. I rose and followed Isabella as we waited off to the side, watching the traumatized girl. Our eyes didn't falter to the ground, but our faces melted with a long forgotten angst. Professor McGonagall attempted to help her up, only finding the student completely senile and stubborn. She whipped her arm out of reach from McGonagall causing Madam Pomfry to comfort the professor from bursting into tears.

"Stupid Girl!" Snape hollers racing down the steps and shoving people aside to see the distraction.

Isabella and I turned to see the terrifying creature lock his claws into the poor girl's shoulder. She cringed at first and then continued to take the pain as a relief from Ryan's death. Jake stood next to Dumbledore as they overlooked the situation stuck in a crowd of sorrowers.

"We should do something." Isabella whispers containing the tears filling up in her eyes.

"...no respect for the dead!" Snape pulls out his wand and threatens Johnson to get up. Jake rushes ahead of Dumbledore, trying to calm the strained nerves.

"Snape, I will not stand here and watch you discipline my student." Professor McGonagall takes the tissue away from her face and throws it at Madam Pomfry.

"Stop it! Both of you-" Bella jumps in between them and their wands.

"If you don't get out of my way Granger, I'll make sure you never return to Hogwarts again." Professor Snape argues, trying to get Isabella to make the right move.

"If you don't put your wand away Snape, I can guarantee you'll make the front page of The Daily Prophet." She glares stone cold at the defiant toad. Johnson freezes holding onto herself staring into the deep pit.

"What seems to be the problem, Serverus?" Dumbledore places his right hand onto Snape's shoulder. Jake proceeds to confront Angelina. She rises to her feet, grasping each step by turning to look back at the grave. Isabella didn't break her stare even when Snape became un-nerved by Dumbledore's authority.

Feeling as though there was no way out, he decides to leave the scene. Dumbledore takes one glance over at his rude behavior and switches to McGonagall preventing her from hiding her wand. She follows Albus over to the other end of the lawn. Isabella stayed put before releasing herself and grabbed a shovel. I relieved my hands from the pockets of my pants and did the same. The teachers left stood off to the side confused at our behavior.

We both took our time shoveling dirt in sync with a pounding rhythm. At a pause, I saw Jake standing next to Johnson whose brown skin contained an even darker tint stare over at us. In an instance, two more diggers joined our pursuit: Jake stood at my right, Isabella to my left. At the end of the line near Jake, Angelina Johnson tossed a disturbing regret into the sullen earth.

"_Respect is the last thing Captains have to consider_."

* * *

For weeks at a time, I would sit on the boulder near the dark lake watching the Grindylows splash in and out of the water. It felt serene to be alone. The four of us haven't spoken to each other since Ryan's funeral, and the honorary digging ritual. Strange as it was to say goodbye, it was even stranger to say hello to the ones still alive.

Jake would often begin a sentence sometimes but never finish it. Angelina would try and muster up enough confidence to say a simple "hi" while passing me in the hallways. And Isabella, she took me by surprise more than anyone else. Her relationship with Wood became more vibrant as the first sign of frost sprinkled the grounds.

I found it more impossible to contact Dumbledore than it had been before. After we had completed concealing the hole in the ground where the grave would be, the Headmaster summoned a headstone in memory of Ryan Anderson. Like always, Isabella was there by my side while Jake seemed to disappear with Angelina. Albus had a weary look to his eyes that day: one I believed to have changed his mind.

"_Cedric_," I turn back around after following Isabella up the steps. She also stops to glance at me and then continues. The Headmaster flicked his fingers in a welcoming way so we could talk. "_I know the death of a friend so dear can bring about the worst in people_." I watch the words carefully and squint my eyes at the shining sun.

"_How can it bring out the worst in me, you mean_?" I stutter while Dumbledore laughs heartily.

"_Revenge, my dear boy_." His arms wave outwards to add emphasis as I act shocked at his instincts. "_For centuries, this anger has led wizards to crave the worst magic has to offer. It convinces some of the best to do the worst and become exiled through ruthless murders. I've seen what revenge can do to the open hearted, and how it leads the gifted into an envious rage of mutiny_..." My shoes shone through my light-hearted reaction as the rest of the headmaster's advice flowed together. "..._that's why I've decided to lift the curse on all houses in order to show my compassion for the team-mates distress these past few days_."

"_Really_?" I ask out astounded by his final response.

"_Unfortunately, detentions will be resumed the following month for the illegal use of magic-_"

"_Of course, I understand_." I begin to walk away when the question strikes me. "_Professor Dumbledore_?"

"_Yes, Mr. Diggory_?"

"_When you mentioned revenge, who was the wizard that gave into the consequences_?" He stared on for a moment thinking and when he finally did answer with a name, it sent confusion down my spine.

"_I believe his name was Tom Riddle_."

The memory of that day remained silent until now. I stretch out my arms to find my left hand had laid to rest on the crack of the broken piece missing from the rock. This mystery confused me more than the answer given by the Headmaster. One word that stuck out more than all the others was ruthless.

When I returned to the school, it was disturbingly quiet. The air that drifted through the castle walls seemed lower than usual. As I continued my path on the first floor and turned around the cursed corner where Angelina ran into me with the bad news, a group of teachers rushed into the hospital wing. Wistfully careful, I stepped close to the doorway un-daring to peak inside but listening intently as they conversed with each other.

"Do you think he managed to take a picture of his attacker?" McGonagall's throaty voice asks. My eyes widen while my neck turns my head towards the framed door. A small spark emits from a camera pried from the victims hands on the gurney. "What does this mean, Albus?" I recognize the silence that struck the room and turned away as he glances towards the entrance.

"It means Hogwarts is no longer safe."

* * *

Sleep was no longer an option because of the questions running through my head late that night as I shuffled my feet to the new location of the Hufflepuff dormitory created by the Ministry. I never heard wind of any information about my father. I assumed he was busy at work and no need be bothered by demolition or death. 'Chocolate Frog' became the required password to enter through the portrait hole covered by a painting of an old man who resembled Dumbledore perfectly.

Making a dignified path upstairs to the boys dormitories was extremely depressing. The door swooshes open without so much as a simple thought. Jake had already gone to bed creating a little stir every now and then when breathing weirdly. Everything remained the same as it had before from the previous rooms in the original house. Nothing was out of place... except Ryan. I didn't bother changing clothes and instead, I laid on my sheets restlessly, shifting from side to side from emotional rage. Finally, I turned to face the right side of my pillow with my cheek smothered as I continued to stare at the empty sheets over on the other bed. A tear slipped down onto the pillow case when my mind gave into rest.

"Did you hear?" Jake tries to break me away from my breakfast.

"Hear what?" I moaned suffering from insomnia.

"There was another attack last night. A kid named Colin...Creevey or something." He scarfs down some scrambled eggs hardly taking enough time to breathe. When he does pause to take a sip of juice, I begin to wonder if that's all he had to say.

"Aaaand?" I string out the worded question, and Jake freezes with the fork hanging in his mouth.

"Ever since our House was destroyed, strange things have been going down." His fork sets itself off to the side as he pushes his plate to the side and leans forward for privacy. "Deep down, you know it has something to do with Granger." I lean back crossing my arms with a stern expression written on my face. Jake retreats to his side and places his elbows on the table. For a good minute, we both stared at each other, realizing the one person who lost their life became the one hope for keeping us under control.

"Isabella has nothing to do with any of this." My voice comes out strong.

"Put the pieces together, Cedric!" His fist pounds the wooden table. "She mysteriously showed up when the House collapsed. You said it yourself; it wasn't an accident." The steam contained within my breathing burned hotly underneath the ashes concealing my tongue.

"I have nothing more to say." I stand and exit the Great Hall. As soon as I cleared the faces that followed the steps I took, I stopped a ways down the corridor.

"Cedric," Someone calls my name down by the front doors as they enter the halls.

"I really don't want to talk, Granger." My head hovers in one spot trying to avoid her friendly gesture.

"I just wanted to know if you wanted to go to this Dueling Club thing. I hear Lockheart might actually try to cast a spell that doesn't backfire." She laughs at the end while I cringe at the lost memory. "What's wrong with you? You're not yourself." I turn and walk away from her to the square courtyard.

"Just back off!" I yell at her. She stands back shocked at my attitude but knowingly understanding.

"What is this about!" She hollers out loud waving her arms and laughing as though it was a joke. "Ryan's dead, Cedric!" Her hands fly over her chest in a resting position. "I know how you feel...for Godric's sake, Angelina knows how hard it was to move on." Isabella takes a seat next to me as I squirm, trying to mistake the touch for anything more. "Now, now it's your turn-"

"There's something you don't know, and I can't make you understand." My stance straightens as she rises too.

"What is it?" Granger asked curiously concerned. I laugh, tilting my head backwards in a chuckle. "You're starting to scare me, Cedric. What is it?" The laughter dies down along with her smile which had evaporated the second I began to speak again.

"During the tournament," I watch her eyes follow where they hid. "I told Ryan not to..."

"Not to what?" She repeats after I pause.

"I told him not to catch the snitch." The deathly deal finally revealed itself in a time of regret.

"Why would you tell him to do that?" Bella states grudgingly, failing to see the humor left in the conversation.

"I shouldn't have... I didn't want... I don't want you to think any less of me." I grab her hands and squeeze tightly. She bows her head downwards in response to my nature. It concerns me more to lead a life of virtue than one of lies.

"It's my fault." Isabella comes out of grief and lifts her head to look at me.

"No."

"Yeah," A tear begins to form in one eye crushing her strength. "...it was." I grab a hold of her presence and attempt to shake her. "Sometimes I think I would be better off alone, Cedric..." The image of her parents holding onto one another flashes inside my head.

"You are never alone."

The dreary and darkening morning lightened through a small significant hole in the cluster of clouds that appeared to block out the sunlight during the stressful hours of an untimely death and a deteriorating hope.

* * *

History repeats itself. Always, I have longed to wonder if the repetition was caused by ignorance. Or perhaps, history contains the vital makeup controlling and maintaining a balance within the near future. A balance which had been overlooked for centuries at a time, discovering the concerning nature of tolerance in both worlds.

"I didn't know where else to turn." Isabella rushes up to me late one night on the third floor corridor while I finished my rounds around the castle.

"What is it?" I ask watching her stand back after leaving a few drops of liquid soaked into my robe.

"I-I found t-this underneath my pillow." A crumpled piece of parchment burnt to a crisp at the edges still smoked through the gaps between her fingers. I slowly pinch a corner to examine the paper before looking straight up immediately after.

"Is this true?!" I yell causing a few of the paintings to curse at me.

"I d-don't know." Her cries muffled the echoes bouncing off the walls awaking more and more portraits.

"If it's valid, do you know what this means." She stares into my eyes with streaks of water running down her cheeks.

"Dumbledore wants us to fight."

At the end of the last word in Isabella's sentence, the parchment with the written message from Dumbledore exploded into flames, leaving a residue of burning black ashes to bathe into the darkness of the shadows instead of light.

"They canceled Quidditch for the rest of the year." Jake moans over soggy oatmeal at breakfast. My mind had been off somewhere else the entire time. "Cedric?" He waves a hand in front of my dazed face as I see Isabella bolt through the doorway into the Great Hall. "There was one more attack last night..." I shift the sound of Jake's voice into one ear while concentrating on her behavior. "...a second year..." Granger sits down at the Gryffindor table before pounding her fists and rushing past onlookers to the exit. "...Hermione Granger."

"Isabella, wait!" I catch the end of her robes flying around the dreaded corner down to the hospital wing. "Isabella?" My hand grabs hold of the frame on the entrance to see every bed in the room filled with frozen statues of students around Hogwarts. The lurching in the pit of my stomach filled my lungs as I stared weak-willed at the realization of the terror occurring inside these walls. More importantly, I was shocked I'd never come into contact with whatever threatened the poor souls laid to rest on the stiff sheets petrified with no means of waking up. "Bella?"

"There's got to be something we can do." Her voice begins to crack when I reach the gurney. "There's some way to stop all this..." She starts to worry me with the fear of knowing we could have done nothing more than what we already had.

"We can't." I confess, and she angers herself.

"We can fight, Cedric! We can fight." Isabella walks to the end of the bed and leans onto the railing, pressing her palms into the tiny grooves while I stare incredulously at her. "We've had that option all year, but we couldn't accept it."

"We have nothing to fight for, Isabella!" I holler at her, making the warmth of my breath cause her to stand back.

"How can you say that?" A cry escapes the silence. "Look! Look at her Cedric!" She points over to the girl laying in a frozen state. "That could have been me." Her hands fly up over her face as she turns away blubbering at the situation. "...it should have been me." My palm lays to rest on her right shoulder, trying to calm her down.

"Ryan would have liked it to be me too." Bella laughs for a moment before brushing away the stains imprinted on her skin.

"Why didn't you say anything?" The sore throat chokes part of her response, but I understood why she wanted to know.

"Revenge can bring out the worst in people." I respond.

"Dumbledore knew about this..." Swaying an arm off to the hospital beds. "...he expected this to happen." We stood inside the hospital wing for a good minute or two, listening to the quiet silence that swept the solitary room hoping the worst was over.

* * *

"I would have expected such work to be done better." Professor Snape towers over me as I try to scrape the gunk off the cauldrons. "And by better, I mean Muggles have much more discipline when it comes to chores." He throws a bottle of dense liquid with foam bubbling at the brink of the cap. "Consider this a learning experience." I growl before continuing the painful process of scrubbing, washing, rinsing. and drying all over again.

Detention doesn't really teach life lessons. It's just a pain-staking labor which no one has the time to do because they're the worst of the worst. The blue concoction mixed grossly with the liquid soap cleaner making the room smell pungent. This was the thirtieth detention played out by Serverus Snape. Each player, depending on year, had to serve at least twenty labors through several months or more decided upon by the teacher. We were divided into different classrooms because of the attacks. My luck just seemed to lay in the dungeon.

A knock came from the door to the room, and I turned to look at Snape as he walked over to the disturbance, eying me to mind my own business and get back to work. I still scrubbed the grit and grime from the cauldron I was holding but never minded his gesture to stay out of the situation.

"Come quick," McGonagall urges Snape. "A student's gone missing!" Her hysterical screech makes me stop altogether as I listen hoping they wouldn't notice.

"Missing? How could the student have gone missing?" Snape remarks curiously looking over to her and then switching his thought to the ground pondering the conversation. When he finishes thinking, his fingers swipe off in my direction. "Escort yourself back to your dormitory, Diggory." I arise, leaving the cauldron at my feet filled with the cruddy soap to pop instantaneously into the air. Looking back at McGonagall as she pushed Snape ahead of her up the staircase leading to the second floor, I stopped out of sight and waited.

"Cedric?" A whisper seeps through the stairs after the footsteps disappear up the winding, moving, staircase. For a mere moment, a shock tingled the back of my nerves to the mysterious voice. Another set of steps was being taken down the staircase getting increasingly louder as they came near. My eyes stayed blind-sighted and unfamiliar with the sound and presence walking towards me. "Cedric!" Isabella Granger flies into my stomach while I about kneel over in horror.

"What are you-" I try to cough out, but she beats me to the answer.

"McGonagall left to get some more quills and when she came back..." Bella's eyes wander to the thuds coming from up above us. She takes the first move and draws me into a corner away from the noise. "Someone's gone missing into the chamber, Cedric. A girl in her first year, here. I heard them talking..." Her pause continues as the disruption grows louder around the walls.

"We need to get out of here." I say sternly, grabbing her wrist and taking the first steps away from our hiding area.

"No, you go." Isabella breaks free from my grip even though it wasn't tightly held. I turn around to look at her stubborn face and knew convincing her to leave was just as helpful as running into a wall.

"I'm not leaving you alone out here. It's dangerous." My persuasive motive doesn't sustain her guilt for the girl lying on the bed yesterday.

"I thought you felt the same way about all this, Cedric." Her eyes linger on mine for a while until I start to turn away.

"I do... a lot more than you think, Isabella." I scratch my head. "I just don't want anything to happen to you." Granger looks up at this statement before grinning.

"So," She begins bluntly. "The only reason we can't go fight some monster in the chamber is because you don't want me to get hurt?" A grin transforms into a smile as she tries not to laugh at me when my eyebrow begins to lift questioningly.

"What?" I ask seriously almost containing a laugh.

"Nothing... it's just," Another fit of laughter comes over her as she bends over grabbing her chest. "I can't believe you pick now to tell me." Breathing outwards trying to become very serious again, Isabella looks straight at my clueless behavior and goes into it again.

"Okay," I finally say getting her to stop gradually. "What's your plan?"

* * *

"I could have been sound asleep inside my comfy sheets, but noooo I had to help the most stubborn witch rescue-" We climb the moving staircases and get stuck on a revolving one that wouldn't stop. Isabella hangs onto my hand in order to pull me up after almost falling off.

"Shut up, Cedric. It's not as bad as it looks." My legs fling out from underneath me as the stairs enclose onto another set for a final second. "Com'n, you lazy whiner." I stop for a second to rewind what was just said and grunt picking myself up and galloping to the end of the second floor staircase.

"Next time we intend to use the stairs, let's not." I run into her as she stops around the corner staring at the wall smeared with writing.

"Her skeleton will lie in the chamber forever." Isabella's fingers touch the period at the end of the word 'forever' and then looks back at me. "Com'n, I have another idea." She rushes past me while I stare absent-mindedly at the blood before retreating.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, what?" Isabella pounds on the stone eagle standing in the doorway to Dumbledore's office.

"What the hell is going on in that head of yours?!" I ask sarcastically, poking a hole through her roots before she swats my arm.

"I don't know the password, alright. I'm frustrated!" Bella walks off pulling on her hair as I take a seat on the stone platform. "... there's no way... how does he expect us..." She bangs her head against the wall, and I can't help but control the laughter seeping through my teeth.

"Just think if you've heard a teacher say it before-"

"I'm trying! Doesn't it look like I've tried everything!" Her growl scares me as a few strands fall out of place and stick straight up.

"Maybe we should give up." I pop a yellow looking candy into my mouth from Isabella's purse.

"What are doing? Did you just take that out of my purse!" Granger screams as the hard candy I was sucking on placed itself to the side of my right cheek budging outwards.

"No," I mumble reluctantly.

"Spit it out, Cedric!" The candy rolls onto the ground while she stares at me and then back at the exposed treat. Her fingers rip the handle of her purse out of my lap while I grimace at the blow. "Great," She remarks opening her purse and sitting next to me. "That was my last sherbert lemon." I shrug smugly when she swats my shoulder.

A tiny rumble began to shake the floor we sat on. We look momentarily at one another before turning around to see the stone statue rotate upwards through the ceiling.

"I knew my plan would work." Isabella smiles brightly as she brushes herself off.

"No you didn't." I reply shaking my head, staring at the projected piece of candy outside the doorway before ascending above the ground floor.

A wooden door came into view at the very top of the lift. Isabella took the lead praying the door didn't need a silly little password in order to gain entrance. Too bad it did. She fell down frustrated at the locked office staring at me to do something. I rolled my eyes before repeating 'Sherbert Lemon'. Her eyes lit up once the knob turned, and the small creek followed suit after it.

"Do you feel... strange?" Bella asks and the door slams shut.

"Yeah," I answer feeling a tiny prick of coldness along my neck.

"This is the sword of Godric Gryffindor. You don't suppose?" A shrug mimics our responses until a frayed pointy hat falls on top of Isabella's head. She screams dropping the sword and watching the hat fall over it. "Where did it go?" I glance over at her after examining a cage of ashes.

"Where did what go?" I ask concerned.

"The sword. I lost the sword, Cedric. Help me find it." Again, I find myself on my hands and knees pawing all over the place, searching for an item that seemed like it didn't exist.

"Are you sure you..." My voice trails off when I finally turned around in a three-sixty motion. "Isabella?" No one was inside the room with me. I scratched my head wondering if I had been dreaming the entire time. A pinch on my arm made me yelp and it terrified my wits. Immediately after my confusion hit, a loud screech sounded throughout the room making me cover my ears. Bluish flames engulfed the corner by the bird cage and then vanished. The handle on the doorknob turns slightly causing me to take cover behind Dumbledore's desk.

"Show yourself or the consequences will be great." I stand up straight, not bothering to put my wand away, and instead point it directly at the teacher. "My-my we are in trouble, Mr. Diggory." Professor Snape smirks genuinely satisfied at the capture. It takes a minute for both of us to register the severe condition of casting a spell against a teacher. The conditions were over-ruled in the first place because of Ryan's death.

"Expelliarmus!" We yell out the spell watching the streaks of magic fly from our wands. As the beam follows its path in slow motion towards me, I cringe thinking back to the moment when I covered Isabella during the showering debris pelting from the ceiling in the common room.

An eyelid lifts dangerously while I searched for my wand to be scattered on the other end of the room and my body in the exact opposite direction. Snape fell against the bookshelf having his wand thrusted out of his hand and into mine. He was knocked out pretty good, but I placed a binding spell to make sure the interference was no more before tossing his wand onto the floor.

I raced down the spindling staircase to find it close once I stepped outside its grounds. Isabella had to have come out this way. There was no other way to escape this castle, was there?

"The Forbidden Forest." I whisper gently under my breath racing forwards and down the stone steps. Near the boulder with the missing chunk of rock was Isabella. Her body was curled into a ball when I approached closer. One small touch sent a shock wave of sharp pain as she screamed for me to get away. I decided to carry her as far as she would let me. Her body seemed cold like she was freezing in this warm weather, but her forehead burned hotly when I reached the hospital wing.

"What's wrong with her?" Madam Pomfry confronts me once I barge through the doors.

"I don't know. I found her like this." Isabella twitches even more as I place her on a bed next to the girl.

"She has a fever, yet she's cold." She states. I stand back and watch her squirm painfully grimacing at the convulsions.

"Can you help her?" I ask graciously. The nurse glances back at Isabella Granger before looking at my hopeful eyes.

"I will try-"

"Riddle!" Isabella jerks to one side screaming the name over and over while Madam looks to me for an explanation. "Tom Marvolo Riddle!" She calms down and begins to rest while I stroke the strands of sweaty hair off her face. The name that sent confusion down my spine became the determining factor in everything Dumbledore wanted us to know, but couldn't tell us -at least not in so many words.


	7. Veritaserum 06 Together, We Stand

_**Together, We Stand**_

* * *

No one would believe me if I told them how I witnessed the most excruciating pain in my life. A horrid pain to the truth which I held only behind lies that crawled beneath my skin. I had become an outcast to society and a outsider to my community. No one would believe the story in which I craved to tell to the only person whose trust was adamantly admirable.

"Will she be alright?" I questioned Madam Pomfry once again after the following weeks.

"I don't mean to be the bearer of bad news," My eyes flutter downwards in angst and resentment. "I haven't seen any improvement since the first night, Mr. Diggory." The fingers on my right hand enveloped twisted into a balled-up fist and then released cautiously. "I'm terribly sorry." The nurse walks away to care for the other students still striving for consciousness just like Isabella.

"You can fight this, Isabella." I took a seat in the lone chair reserved for my patience. "I know you can." My fingers wrap around her pale hand. For once in my life, I wanted someone to listen. Someone who would take note of the words I spoke. If that one person could be Isabella Granger, I would shed the superficial wounds off the corner of my sleeve.

More weeks passed on in agony. Classes resumed for what they were, but the teachers understood the weakness the students seemed to dread. We all had been waiting for the cure to take its effect on those who had been petrified. We whispered tones of regret at night and sounds of empathy in the morning, praying it would be enough.

"How is she?" Jake pats my shoulder while we walk out onto the grounds.

"I honestly don't know." I state sadly, watching patches of clouds pass overhead.

"Do you think she'll make it?" He asks, studying my posture towards the lake. The stone boulder with the missing chunk illuminated my hatred for the impressing blood escaping from the back of my mind.

"She's strong." For a moment, I thought I recognized a fellow Hufflepuff cross the path next to the rock as I was distracted by Jake's curiosity. "She wants to fight." The shape vanishes as Jake takes his turn to study the scene while the wind blows gently over the mis-shapen stone.

That night, I couldn't find comfort within my dreams since they were the only distraction left to my daily life. A beam of light penetrated the flash erupting out of the corner of the woods. Isabella runs onward away from my reach. I screamed for her to stop and leave with me. She denies my advice and continues to escape. Frustrated and on the brink of explosion, I trace her path into the Forbidden Forest. Images of black cloaks flying overhead distract my impulse at a second glance. Another bright light illuminates the darkness while I try to grab the rest of my instincts before watching Isabella's body wither on the damp earth. Terror crushes the silence as more flashes continue to blur the imprisoned thought.

"No!" Breathless, with sweat dripping down my forehead, I arise shakily allowing the numb experience to fade into nothingness.

"You okay, Cedric?" Jake rushes to the side of my bed, frightened at the impulsive nightmares. Without any response to his question, I shove him back hastily, throwing my cloak on over my clothes. "What's this about?" He continues to question my behavior from a lost memory.

"I think Isabella's in danger." I rush through the words thoroughly, stopping to stare at his sullen face.

"This has to stop, Cedric." My lips purse together with a bitter taste of ignorance. "She's going to be the end of you." The bag I clutched slipped ever so slightly to the floor. "And you're going to be the end of her." I punch Jake straight in the jaw, stepping back to pick up my bag while he spits droplets of blood from his mouth. "Go ahead Cedric! Kill her if that's what you want!" His anger spitting across the room causes me to stop briefly before turning around.

"Then we will be the end of each other." The back of my heel shifts as I walk out the door, leaving Jake surrounded in a room of his own desperation for compassion.

"Isabella!" My yell echoes along the corridors as I race downstairs to the main entrance. The large wooden doors remained open, offering a subsequent bang once one flew back into the stone wall. Wind rustled from outside in an irritating yet frightful way before dying down. The minute I switch my attention around the corner, the doors slam shut, causing me to fidget with the lost items out of my bag until I reached the hospital wing.

The feeling inside the hospital was one of grievance. The still figures still lay frozen on the bed sheets leaving me to quiver the impending thought of death. Were they dead and if they were, why couldn't they wake? It scared my wits as my body followed my legs over to the dreaded spot. A black-hooded figure enveloped over Isabella's bed. Smoke and ash recede as I cast a spell to disarm him.

"Isabella?" I whisper faintly, causing my voice to tremble with fear. She shifts from side to side painfully holding back the unexcused curse, making her muscles tense. "Don't give up." Ever so tightly, I squeezed the end of her left hand with mine, trying to shove the loose strands of matted hair from her eyes.

"You are never alone." The slightest tone comes from the end of the hospital wing as I look up. Ryan, still dressed in Hufflepuff Quidditch robes, bows his head in our direction before turning to walk off. I stare on weakly, watching the last remains of the frayed fabric float above the stone floor before laying my head down.

* * *

"Cedric," My head bobs a little as my chin lifts slightly trying to find some kind of anchor. Isabella lifts her body upwards against the pillow, resting a moment to take a look at me. Morning had come as did the light that poured in through the glass window panes. Rustling took place around the solemn sanctuary.

"Bella," I smile brightly, wincing at the memory of last night when I had been terrified for her life.

"Cedric!" Her arms wrap around my shoulders while she screams ecstatically. I embrace the new warmth penetrating the worries from the past weeks. All those long-forgotten hours of constantly waiting at her bedside for days, wondering if she would wake up. "I thought I'd lost you." She releases while I hold onto her wrists drawing distance between us.

"Me too." I state brushing her bang over to one side as her face gained back an even brighter tint than the glow of the sun. "Me too."

The cure had been administered successfully. Madam Pomfry who had done all she could for Isabella received my utmost gratitude for the rest of the year, or at least the few days left of it. Dumbledore returned to Hogwarts, making us rejoice for the first time in a month. I remember listening to him explain all that had happened and how everything would be fine. Deep in the back of my mind... I knew he withheld a certain piece of important information from us.

"Granger looks fine." Jake states as we depart from the lecture and dig into some food. I glance over a few tables down to see Isabella lip-lock with Wood and shudder.

"That's all I ever wanted." I whisper to myself as Jake eyes me weirdly.

"So, I heard they decided not to close Hogwarts." Isabella comes up behind me lacking a small sense of grace.

"Well, where else would they send a bunch of misfits like ourselves?" A laugh covers her ignorance.

"It's not over for us." She states bluntly, getting lost amongst the waves. We walked along side by side close to the Forbidden Forest. "There's more that we haven't figured out."

"Maybe it's not for us to know, Bella." I grunt, turning away from her gaze.

"Where did you come up with such a name?" She giggles covering her mouth.

"I..."

"No, it's pretty. I like it." Bella removes her hand in order to smile. A long path full of silence over takes our conversation as we cross the bridge.

"I worry a lot about you." I say leaning on the railing in between the tiny arches. Bella stands behind me wanting to understand. I can feel the sway of her intentions become confused and frustrated at the same time. "Not just you, but me. I feel responsible for everything that's happened." I huff out a breath. "I lost a friend due to Quidditch this year. I won't lose another." Granger grasps the side of my arm, squeezing my bicep tightly.

"What are you saying, Cedric?" She releases her grip, causing me to stumble through the rest of my thoughts.

"We're from completely different worlds, Isabella." Her head sways down before retreating upwards. "My father expects nothing but greatness from me. Dumbledore wants me to rise above vengeance in order to fight my battles. The truth is... I can't be both those men. I can't convince myself to be held responsible for anything else that happens to you." I grab her hand lightly as a tear breaks free from her face. "Don't forget all that I have done for you. Remember, that you are never alone." My stance withers in defeat as I turn, yet again, to run away from the only girl I felt the need to protect.

"Diggory," Oliver Wood confronts me once I enter the castle through the wooden doors. "Have you seen Isabella?" I laugh within my own head while smirking on the outside. As I begin my response to the question, Wood cuts me off. "She left this in McGonagall's office." A phoenix-feathered pen rolls gently in the crease within his palm.

* * *

"Some year." Jake mumbles, situated on top of his bulky suitcase.

"Some year." I retort.

"I'll meet you downstairs." He casts a spell to levitate his belongings to follow him out the door. I nod in response still trying to kill time. As soon as the thought crosses my mind, a loud pop sounds in the corner of the room causing me to embrace my wand tightly in self-defense.

"Who's there?" My head tilts at an angle while I step forward a bit to investigate. Nothing was revealed.

I turn my attention back to my suitcase, scratching my head filled with paranoia. It was nothing to begin with was all I could say over and over again. A few garments shifted to the left of the wooden crate that served as a safe. Underneath all the articles of clothing stood my Quidditch robe which had been untouched since the tournament. Ryan's face from the other night lit within my eyes as I felt compelled to feel the silky texture. My fingers traced the stitched letters resembling 'Diggory' alongside the back disguised as an intriguing promise. Working my ways downwards, the pockets seemed worn and almost frail. The left hand side burnt somewhat to a crisp, replaced the fabric design. Smoke emitted from the heat exhausted from the concealed material. The tips of my fingers find an ash-ridden note crumpled within the lining, prepared as though it already existed before.

"We need Order to survive the severe cruelty of Lord Voldemort, but it will have to be one that can strike fear into the coldness of those who carelessly stand against us: an Order of great importance."

"Cedric, the train's going to leave without us if we don't get a move on!" Jake hollers from downstairs as I finished reading the last words out loud. It burst into a storm of bluish flames in the shape of a phoenix before receding to ember and dust.

"Not up to any mischief today, Mr. Diggory." Professor Snape locks his nails into a firm grip in the groove of my shoulder. I cringe for a moment and then take my own stance as well.

"Nothing my father wouldn't be proud of." I state sternly, unlocking his clutch as I continued to make a mad dash for the first floor landing only stopping short of the second floor corridor with the writing on the wall.

"I wouldn't be so proud the next time you decide to break school rules." My lip curls inward as I resist the urge to send another spell his way. "Of course, Amos can't be that blind to the laws of the Ministry when his son has enough ignorance and refusal to disobey them." He slips a handle connected to a beaten up bag out in front of him before walking away. "Convince Granger of the same."

"Things haven't changed, have they?" Jake confronts me as we climb aboard the Hogwarts Express. I stop and look over to a familiar face in the crowds.

"I'll be right back." He begins to question my notion until he sees the range of contact I was heading for. Early morning presented new senses to be excited about, but also ones that seemed to dampen the very air and humid gloss.

"I know. It was completely pathetic how he tried to win you back." The death trap had been set by none other than the celibate: Claire Daniels. "I mean, if you could think of a more conceded and tortured soul that relied upon nothing but good looks-" The girl she was talking to cuts her off as I stand back a few feet listening and denying.

"If you wanted to talk about someone whose completely self-absorbed in her own superficial wounds, it would have you plastered all over the bloody paper." She snaps back at Claire with a sassy remark of her own. I snuff a laugh as the look on Daniels's face slowly falls.

"So, I guess the next cover-up for the headlines would have Diggory's name written all over it." Claire nods off in my direction while I turn my head away and then back. Isabella turns around, allowing her blond hair to glow in the light left from the cloudy mass in the sky. Confused yet un-abused, she makes her way over to me. I stand petrified as though I hadn't learn to breathe out. Her mouth opens slightly, almost mouthing out the words before I hand her the purse.

The whistle to the train blows loudly over the rush as we look to each other. Her hazel eyes glowed with a fierce flame of their own before I began to speak.

"We will fight for whatever we choose, but we must be prepared for the worst." I depart first from our encounter, considering everything the note inside my Quidditch robe suggested. The train began to move slowly, gaining speed as it took off. I stare out the window, feeling a strange sensation as though Isabella had done the same.

History has always been apart of the past. It has held many memories for followers to find; and yet, I feel as though we have broken a solid chain that might have been resumed for years to come. The lock was not permanent, and the door not closed. Only our mindset belonged to the fear which brought the absolute worst to our unknown worries. We found refuge amongst friends who served more than purpose would allow. They stood together while the two of us stood apart. Yet, we remained strong as though we never were truly alone.


	8. Veritaserum 07 Disciplinary Atonement

_**Disciplinary Atonement**_

* * *

"Cedric, wake up!" My eyes open slowly, yet alertly, from the shaking.

"No." I mumble and roll over into my pillowcase, oozing within the softness of the plush feathers.

"Come on sleepy head, get up." The covers fly off my enclosed position, releasing the tenderness. For the first time, I shift my weight towards the intrusion, causing my hand to brace the side of her cheek. She takes a seat on the edge of my bed, caressing her hand over mine before exerting a prompt smile in response to my sleepiness. "We have work to do." Isabella leans forward for a moment and embraces my lips against hers. As she removes the pressure and sits back, her appearance begins to fade abruptly.

"Cedric?" Another shake comes against my shoulder, pressing deep in a determined way. "Cedric?!" The loud holler makes me fall off the side of my bed, causing my covers and pillow to follow suit. "Dude, you alright?" Jake's fingers swerve in a mixture of colors before the light from the window allows me to focus.

"Yeah," I swap his wrist away and stand almost, stumbling backwards from the blood flow.

"Great," My feet become stationary for a few bleak seconds before I tumble over onto the floor once again. "Your mom was worried about you." Jake pulls on my left arm, trying to get my stance stable. "Said you weren't really doing much with your life." I yank his grip away as my anger became frustrated with my parent's concerns.

"Yeah, well I told my father I quit Quidditch." I state stubbornly, taking off my shirt and tossing it onto the bed while searching for one in the dresser. Jake's mouth drops in astonishment.

"What?!" I turn to glance at him before smoothing my roots out after putting on a pair of pants. He stays silently surprised until I reach my mattress to tie my shoes. "Wait, what?"

"I'm quitting." I say curtly hoping his response wouldn't come out as a lecture.

"You can't quit." Jake mocks my judgment. "You're Cedric Diggory. You deserve to call yourself the greatest Quidditch player of all time." I nod in agreement and then bow my head while searching for the ignorant reflection in the mirror.

"All anyone ever talks about anymore is how I deserve, I deserve." I lash back around to face Jake, making him flinch. "No one ever talks about what Ryan deserved." Jake's eyes soften a little and then take offense immediately.

"Ryan's dead, Cedric."

"And the least you can do is respect him." I walk over towards the door after grabbing my bag full of books and notebooks. "That's what he deserves from us." The handle on the door jiggles open on its own, causing Jake's face to become one of confusion.

Bracing myself at the top of the staircase made my spine shiver from the encounter with Isabella only a year ago. Time seemed to pass by quickly during the school year but when it came to Summer, it stayed stationary. It had been only a week since we departed from Hogwarts, looking forward to what the next year would hopefully bring. It was sad, and I was weak. The bottom of my sneakers crackled down the steps when I made it to the bottom.

Mum was in the kitchen cooking breakfast, concentrating hard on sizzling the bacon without burning it. I glanced over into the living room to see my father sipping coffee and reading the Daily Prophet. I slinked through the kitchen almost unnoticed until my mother sensed something within the air and turned around shocking me to the bone.

"Cedric?" I froze instantly with my hand twisting the doorknob. Her head leaned back in an awkward way as her cheek turned to one side. My breath seized, still debating on whether making my presence known was the correct thing to do. As I examined her closely, her eyes rolled to the back of her head, causing the whites to be fully exposed in a dangerous way. Then, they were released, and she went back to the stove. Terrified of the event, I raced out the door and closed it abruptly to get away.

'What just happened?' I asked myself over and over again, heading out back towards the fields. I sat down on a short stump, setting my bag to the side while reaching for one of my notebooks.

My mind embraced Isabella Granger's solid complexion from this morning as I held a piece of charcoal between my thumb and index finger. The tips of my fingers acted as a blending tool as I shaded in her facial features. Then the hair, the extremely silky golden blond strands surrounding her oval face. It suppressed the eagerness making her skin the dominant feature. A birth mole caressed on the side of her right cheek as though an angel had already blessed her with a subtle kiss. When it came to the eyes, a certain amount of darkness overwhelmed my vision from the tragedy. My hand stopped as I looked around the brush and into the hot sun beating down on the ground. As I returned to the portrait, the motion in my wrist flickered with an ever restless motivation.

Evening had approached all too quickly as the fading glow of the sunset rested on my notepad. The drawing was finished, and even as I scribbled the last note inside the typical college rule notebook, so was my conscious. I placed the sketch pad along with the notebook back inside the bag and rested. For a week, I never wanted to look out my window and see the sunrise. For a week, I never felt the need to watch a sunset without her here. All my mind embraced anymore was the thought of seeing her smile: tilting her head back and having the natural glow of the blond strands dance around her entire face.

The sigh I angered to let out suffocated beneath my chest as I arose, scooping up the frayed bag and walking resiliently back home. The trail from the garden reminded me of a dream until the house came fully into view. It was two stories with a solid blue tint throughout. A few of the shingles needed bewitched to surpass the next disturbance from the weather. A slight breeze indicated the night would be getting cooler and that it threatened to approach soon enough. My feet sundered, and I took my time entering through the back door waiting for the sweet smell of dinner to intoxicate me.

Mum was removed from the cooking position she'd been in this morning. The kitchen was empty as was the living room. Both my parents had gone almost without a trace. My fingers swayed for a moment before scratching my scalp. As the question left my mind, a screech sounded from upstairs. The angle on my shoes turned to race up the staircase. From the top of the stairs to my bedroom with the open door, an owl lay, perched on the window sill. I dropped the bag clutched within my right fist before storming into the exposed room.

* * *

My fingers promptly grasped the envelope concealing the written message. Sweat began to bead across my forehead as the worst scenarios played throughout my subconscious. Slowly, as though it was a Howler, my thumb broke the seal, folding back the paper. A few words in cursive handwriting stood out immediately once the parchment was pulled outwards.

_Cedric,_

_Something came up at the office. Mother will attend a hearing placed at the Ministry._

_Amos_

My eyes oscillated back and forth over the short letter, causing my confusion to rise considerably. I threw the note onto the bed and sat down. Everything about my father frustrated me. He never said so much as a word during the entire year, and even when I debated with him on Quidditch, he still remained quiet. I only expected him to write what went wrong in so many words as if he couldn't trust me, or the owl for that matter. I was just a stranger to him, and to him, I deserved to be treated like one.

An hour had passed since I came inside and found the owl which still stared willingly at me from the edge of my bed. That is, until it finally pecked my shoulder. It had retrieved the confidential letter and pushed alongside my arm, ordering me to respond in some way. I grabbed it and tossed the absurd notice into the trash, egging on the stupid owl to peck me once more. It did, and the more frustrated I became. Finally, I decided to leave the room, pausing to pick up the sunken bag on the floor in the hallway before retreating downstairs for food.

Like the average teenage wizard, I found nothing worth eating or making inside the kitchen. Sadly, I tossed a few grapes into my mouth, wishing I could summon a hamburger. One that included cheese, tomatoes, pickles, mustard, ketchup, all on a sesame seed bun. My mouth watered at the imaginary dinner that would never be. Lonely and abandoned, I sat down on the cushioned armchair in the living room, waiting.

The Daily Prophet my father read this morning was sprawled out on the coffee table as though thrown in a haste. I searched the curiosity sitting on the tabletop many times before embracing the urge to read it myself. At least, in the hope of figuring out what was going on around here. The title pressed on the nerves fluctuating inside my eyes as I took a closer look at the report.

_The Daily Prophet_

_"Diggory Quits Quidditch" by_  
_Isabella Granger_

_"It appears to be the controversial event of the Summer: Cedric Diggory is quitting Quidditch. For years, we have known and loved the dedication of the handsome sports star. He is ranked one of the best Quidditch Players at Hogwarts for four years running. Due to very rare complications, such as the death of Seeker: Ryan Anderson, Diggory has held steadfast through the year. Needless to say, Cedric Diggory has abused the law of Underage Wizardry in the past Quidditch Season, by refusing to discipline the team mates solely responsible._

_Recently, it has been secretly reported that the teenage protégé of Amos Diggory, Assistant Director of the Ministry of Magic, has decided to quit Quidditch. Doubtful about his return to the sport, many factors have contributed to Diggory's loss of endurance. Instead of being dedicated to Quidditch, he is taking advanced classes to cover up the real drama of abandonment. Amos Diggory has quoted him in a brief interview about his son's determination stating that, ". . . his exploration of moral opportunities has led him into a field of solidity." and, " Although his true zeal applies to education, Cedric's desire is to ensure safe replacements for the un-named positions."_

_After the intense year at Hogwarts reported to be an unknown source that petrified many students, few have accepted the threat to be over. Of course, there are other coincidences brewing beneath the cauldron waiting to erupt from the stone basin which contains it: Cedric Diggory's decision. How will the Hufflepuff House deal with the severe loss of, not one, but two Quidditch Players this season? And, is there more that meets the eye to Diggory than thought possible? One thing is for sure this up and coming year, we have far less to expect at Hogwarts now that the danger has settled down._"

My knuckles clenched each side of the paper including the article about my dilemma as I crunched the material into a ball and threw it into the burning embers of the fireplace. The anger I felt replaced the heartbreaking stone that lay dormant within my chest from the past week. I needed to leave this place. I needed to leave it now.

Racing upstairs, I found the clueless owl still perched on the frame of my bed watching me falter around my drawers. Mad as ever, I slammed the defiant wooden shelf flat against the dresser and slid down to the floor. The intention and expectation of encountering Isabella Granger this Summer had come to halt along with my strangled emotions.

"If you really want to send something and bug the hex out of someone else, here." I attached a letter to the owl's leg, prompting it to return to its rightful owner. It spread its wings and leaped from the window sill, screeching into the midnight air. Unsteadiness rose within the air, and noise erupted from downstairs. "Who's there?!" I holler steadily, invading the bottommost step on the staircase with my heart beat racing as my wand shone brightly.

"Expilliarmus!" A light streamed away from the fireplace covering the shadow of the witch who commanded it. My palm reaches forward while my fingers spread making a barrier for the spell to be absorbed and vanish into particles. When the fading rays deteriorate, Isabella's stature is replaced inside the room as I stand my guard.

"Nice to see your tolerance crushed." I state sarcastically, pushing my wand into my back pocket before stepping towards her. Bella smirks rudely, shoving her wand into my chest urging me to take another step.

"I see you've lost your patience." Isabella mocks my remark, shifting her tip further into my heart.

"Good," A finger tips the stern stick sideways at an angle away from threat. "We've both lost something." Granger laughs briefly and then takes her own stance back ready to aim. I stand with my arms outwards, daring her to fire a spell in the mist of danger.

"You read the article, didn't you?" I make no motivation to answer her theory and flop my arms down by my side. "The Editor has a tendency to twist words."

"So do you." I state honestly, and it angers her.

"Imperio!" A Unforgivable Curse crosses our paths. My hands reach outwards, protecting my stature allowing the incantation to reflect instead absorb itself. The rebound catches Isabella off guard, making her flinch in the same manner. Her fingers spread in front of her from both palms, freezing the spell in mid-air causing the destruction to explode into tiny sparks.

"Bella?" I ask cautiously as a strange force sweeps through Isabella's veins. Her face becomes deathly pale while her eyes turn into a glazed white color. "Isabella!" I yell, trying to help her distinguish a path back to me. She stays still for a moment before dropping down to the floor. A second before the fall, Granger's eyes switched from white to blue.

* * *

"Amos, your son's gone mad." I over hear my father's boss explain my corruption from the evening while I waited outside his office at the Ministry.

"I'll be the judge of that." Amos states, dignifying the situation. He nods at Cornellius Fudge as he heads towards the door.

"Illegal use of magic seems to be his calling. That's two cases of the Imperio Curse this evening." Father nods him off, continuing on his way without so much as a remark. I huff out a smug expression, wondering how my father, Amos Diggory, could allow anyone to insult his decision making much like my own.

"Cedric," Father growls out my name, passing by my seating prompting me to follow him. I do as I'm told watching his body language very carefully. If there was one place I would love to be right now, it would be Hogwarts: the dungeon. "Do you have any dignity whatsoever?" His eyebrow protrudes upwards in a displeased way, causing me to look down. "I have had enough to deal with around here, and now I find out my son is one of the worst rebels this community has ever seen." My head breaks from the stone floor to glare at his wording.

"Compared to what you've always wanted me to be, right?" Amos backs up, appalled from the gesture. I step forward, matching the exact set of steps and point straight at his badge. "I thought you were doing a great job." I smirk a laugh, backing up brushing my sleeve and grabbing the bag settled near the bench. As I approach my father's petrified figure back at the other end of the hallway, I state smugly, "A rebellion is the last thing you should worry about." His eyes widen at the advice, allowing me to scurry away without so much as a scar embedded on my skin.

"Excuse me," A lady confronts the receptionist at the front desk. I walked past her making a path past the water fountain and over to the main doors. "I'm looking for my granddaughter: Isabella Granger." The last sentence sent such an impact down my nerves I actually ran into a witch carrying a stack of papers. They spread out all over the floor as she curses me for not watching where I was going. I apologize quickly, adding a swift sway of my palm over the mess refurbishing the stack once more. The woman's face becomes frantic in a rush, yet afraid of the incident as she walks away. I head towards the main desk next to the Grandmother of Isabella Granger.

"Excuse me," I stand next to the woman leaning over the desk, persuading her to give me the information I asked. "I wish to know which ward Mrs. Diggory is in." I state properly, hoping the mention of the last name would be enough to convince her of not refusing the will.

"You're Amos Diggory's son, correct?" I nod in response as the Grandmother notices the importance of the name. "She's in the Psychiatric Ward: Room 201."

"Thanks," I wave out the thank-you, not knowing her name and not taking the time to acknowledge it.

"Ginger," She points to her name tag, smiling a bit at the recognition.

"Right, thank-you Ginger." I shift my eyes uncomfortably and smirk at the awkward introduction. 'Ginger' appeared to be in her mid-twenties with wavy auburn hair and green glow-in-the-dark cat eyes. I shuddered as I fidgeted with the stolen wand in my back pocket. I began to make my way to the back of the rooms past the meeting that had apparently begun. A crack in the door was open to it and inside, my father stood his ground against the issue at hand yelling at Fudge for his stupidity. The corner of my mouth tilts a little upwards, trying to contain the laughter waiting to explode.

"Mr. Diggory," The entry to the Psychiatric Ward was off-limits to visitors. Only the witches and wizards who had a direct code embedded on their wand could enter. I stood stubbornly at the dead end as Granger's Grandmother approached me. I expected her to. "I'd like to thank you for what you did back there." I nod in response to the generous gratitude.

"They can be extremely level-headed around here." I state openly, watching for bystanders.

"I suppose they are." She laughs in the same manner Isabella had. "My name's Maggie Marvolo." A shudder of fear sears through my blood from the name as Maggie looks at me. "You know Isabella, don't you?"

* * *

Isabella Granger had been placed in Room 205. I visited my mother first before I trudged off with Maggie to see her granddaughter. Mum's eyes were closed tightly, forcing themselves to open constantly. Dark bruises lined beneath them as though she had gotten into a Muggle fight. I coughed slightly, not trying to make noise. Her eyes blinked after searching the room for the source, placing a shiver down the back of my neck. The parchment posted on the end of the bed frame stated: "Victim of Imperio Curse - Treatment Necessary".

My hand faltered to the side as I walked alongside the bed, horrified to touch her inflicted behavior. She remained still and silent throughout once I placed a lone hand over her forehead. A significant weight was released, and I could feel its presence lift from the room.

"You're one of us." Maggie Marvolo stood inside the doorway, watching my posture turn in awareness of her statement. I shake my head in apprehension, learning another danger threatening the wizarding community.

"How is Isabella?" I walk with her across the hallway into Room 205 -not wanting to return.

"She's trapped inside herself just like the rest of them." Maggie states sadly, sitting down. I stand at the edge of the bed, staring at the creature I'd met in my house.

"What do you mean trapped?" I ask concerned of the twitching.

"Have you ever heard Muggles say they feel as though they are 'lost in a sea of faces'?" My expression reads I didn't have clue what she was referring to. "It is as if she's alone in the center of a ballroom without a hand to grasp slipping into the solidity of swirling colors around her. She knows they exist, but she doesn't have the power to distinguish between the faces." She grabs Bella's hand and grasps it tightly, putting pressure on the part that hurts more than pain itself. I grieve for a moment and then brace myself for the strength rendered among us.

"Bella," I whisper lightly into the right ear, knowing she could hear my voice on a subconscious level. "I don't want to be held responsible for anything that happens to you." After the phrase ended and I knowingly tapped the edge of her forehead, Isabella awakened.

"I thought I'd lost you." I about cry out as she smiles brightly after recognizing my face.

"I'm so sorry, Cedric." Isabella begins to lose it as well. "I just got so caught up in getting the story. I didn't..." She trails off, realizing her Grandmother was sitting on the other side. "Maggie!" Granger screams excitedly, hugging her strongly.

"I'll leave you two alone." Maggie releases Isabella's grip and looks over at me. "He's a fine gentlemen." Her hand collapses from the side of her cheek as she whispers this to her granddaughter, thinking I couldn't decipher the message. She exchanges waves with her before leaving the room. I grin at Granger, hoping she'd have an explanation for all this.

"You know you tried to kill me?" I laugh sarcastically as she smirks. Isabella tilts her head back, causing the golden strands to rupture around her porcelain skin.

"It probably wouldn't be the first time." Isabella bites the tip of her fingernail, teasing the temptation of death once more.


	9. Veritaserum 08 Rebellious Mavericks

_**Rebellious Mavericks**_

* * *

If a person wills time to pass by quickly, it will not. If a person wills time to slow down, it cannot. Time exists as long as we exist, which wouldn't be very long.

"Let's get you out of here." I begin to scoop Isabella up in my arms unready for her to protest.

"Why?" She asks, doubtful of the determination.

"Because you don't belong here." Her eyes wince for an excuse. "We're in more danger here than anywhere else." Bella starts to pound on my shoulder before I release her to the ground.

"What are you talking about, Cedric?" She asks concerned. I stared out of breath at her.

"Look, I just have a feeling if we stay any longer something-" A crash sounds from outside in the main lobby as Isabella and I glance at one another before stepping outside the door. Spells were blasting from every angle from the entrance as people struggled to stay low. We ducked back into the room for safety. Isabella turns to me. terrified of the threat.

"How did you know?" I breathe in and out carefully before responding to the question.

"My father knew something was wrong from the very beginning." I state honestly, nodding my head from the door to her curious face. She pouts extremely exhausted from the rush of adrenaline and starts to tip to one side, catching herself on the edge of the railing connected to the bed.

"I'm fine." Isabella insists I didn't need to hold onto her. "I'm just tired." Her eyes rest closed for a moment and then open to my concerned attitude.

"I know."

"They can't get past the doors, can they?" We retreat to the edge of the door frame and peek over through the square glass on each of the wooden doors. A green streak of magic crosses the room on the other side, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I turn to Bella at a glance and notice the medical band on her right wrist, tearing it off.

"I don't know. They have to have a specific code to access this ward." She turns towards me discouraged, thinking a spell could easily break through. "It's practically impossible." I smirk and walk over to the room where my mother was kept.

"Ashes to ashes, rain upon ember, they have longed to return, now and forever." Maggie Marvolo rhymes the cursed remembrance of the lost minority. Isabella and I stand silent as she watches over my mother. "They have what we want and want what we have because the time shall freeze while the fire rages onward and forever." The loud roar of chaos becomes silent against the shrilling winds at the Ministry of Magic.

An explosion breaks loose near the entrance to the Psychiatric Ward, urging Isabella and I to escape without being caught. More thunder booms from the blows, exerting a terrible blast of stone and dust into the hallway. We were sure they couldn't get in, yet our chances were slim to none. Maggie helps my mother up out of the bed as she gains back some consciousness, but not enough to realize the current situation. Another streak of green light pours through a crack in the way, causing Granger to lunge into me and knocking my reaction away from harm.

"Thanks," I admit, having her sprawled out on top of me. She smiles and then gets up.

"Don't mention it." Bella turns at the beaten wall before looking back towards the other end of the hallway. "There has to be another way out, right?" She races to the other side, leaving us to rush after her.

"The walls are bewitched." I convince her the plan to hex the wall was insane. "We have to find some way around them. Our best chance is through the fireplace." I try to persuade her to give into my plan, hoping she would see the logical aspect of it. Her eyes become overwhelmed by the stress and pressure of being trapped. "Come on," I reach a hand out, prompting her to accept. Slowly, she grasps my palm as I squeeze it tightly.

The doorway crashes down, bringing a cloud of dust to conceal the hole created by the intruders. I nod to Isabella who fires a disarming spell first through the haze while I urge Maggie to glide past. In an effort to confuse them, I leap forward in front of Granger to surpass a spell so close it lit the fire within my eyes. Blinded from the crossover, Isabella takes a stand and runs ahead. I follow not far behind, willing her to keep her guard up. The entire room was encased in smoke and debris as we halted in the center of the room silently breathing, our backs placed together with our wands raised outwards in awareness.

"Ashes to ashes, from dawn till dusk," Mimicking voices repeat around us, reverberating the new rhyme to our ears as we listened in terror. "We have longed to return and give you our trust." Blue hooded figures kneel down, encircling our stance against them. Their leader, dressed much in the same attire except with a sash clapped his hands together, bursting into bluish flames along with the other members who left nothing but rising smoke into the still air. Isabella and I lowered our wands and relaxed, collapsing downwards onto the floor while staring at the ceiling and trying to retrace the riddle that had accepted us both.

* * *

"Would you like some more tea, Cedric?" Maggie offers a kettle of boiling water steaming from the spout over to my half-empty cup.

"No, no I'm fine." I answer lost in my own thoughts, staring at the stairwell where Isabella had disappeared to in the last hour.

The smoldering froth seated at the edges of my teacup started to blend with the cooling liquid left. My eyes returned to the table where my hands fingered the outer edge of the cup, distracting the known instincts of worry. I had an unsettling feeling being inside Maggie Marvolo's house; yet, I ignored its loud objection in order to focus on what really mattered: our loyalty. The last seconds left before Maggie and my mother rejoined our separation in the center of the Ministry, and the moment after we used the Floo network. My father's concerned expression was followed by the Ministry staff and Fudge as I vanished next to Isabella in the green flames. It was the last scorched glare I would endure from the Ministry itself if I had a say in the disturbance that happened only hours ago. The hours when Isabella and I stood amongst our fate and accepted the minority that diminished before our eyes in a puff of smoke.

"Well, I finally got her to fall asleep." Isabella rushes down the creaking steps, holding onto the knob curved on the railing before eying me. I grunt awkwardly to remove my glance.

"How is she, dear?" Maggie insists on the temporary condition to be updated immediately by urging her granddaughter to state the severity of the present problems. I peak a glance at Granger's removed cloak, realizing the tan shorts curled upwards with an embellished 'Ambercrombie & Witch' logo on the back pocket, covered by a flowing dress top. Her hair thrown into a jumbled ponytail with a silver flower clip to match the pink layout of the outfit. Isabella pauses uncertain before catching my stare as I quickly replaced it to the cup of hot tea, and she continued to propose a worthy response.

"I tried," She begins to look towards the wooden floors as she feels utter disappointment. I wince at the weakness and look over towards her sincere apology for the inconvenience. I wanted her to know she did nothing wrong. "I couldn't get her to eat anything. She just won't." At the end of the confession, Maggie's eyes feel remorse for the poor situation as I struggled not to clutch Isabella's worry in my arms.

"You did what you could." Maggie embraces her granddaughter soothingly as she tears up. "We'll just have to keep trying." I leaned back in my chair, watching the intertwined hurt and wishing nothing more than to have the power to heal the merciless pain.

"I wish I could do more." Isabella states through incoherent words as she pulls away, brushing the tears stained on her face and relieving the once irrelevant curse crossed paths with a most dangerous and haunting effect.

"We should get some sleep." Maggie looks over at the two of us. "I have a feeling the Ministry is going to have trouble covering up the new headline for this Summer." I smirk, noticing Isabella had blushed from the previous article written during a time of ignorance and forthcoming. To my surprise, she seemed to be more radiant in the faint glow of the fire that filled the room from wall to wall.

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to." Granger pressures me.

"I don't mind sleeping on the floor." She eyes me threateningly to tell the truth. I mimic a disguised smirk and state confidently, "Really, I don't." Her question falls as she loses interest in the fight for generosity. Even if she was the guest in my house, I know I'd still be sleeping on the floor. Which in all moral respect, it really doesn't seem that bad after one spends almost all their life flying on a thin rod, formally known as a broomstick, jammed into their crotch.

"I'm truly sorry about your mother, Cedric." Isabella confronts her faults, turning on her bed to look down on me. I laugh, knowing she hated when people laughed at her. So, I stopped in the mist and grimaced suddenly, causing her to raise an eyebrow at my behavior. "What?" She asks concerned; yet, at the same time, annoyed. I smile and nod my head, assuring her it was nothing to be analytical about. Yet she wanted to know, and I could sense the extreme angst floating in the cool air.

"It wasn't your fault." I state honestly, confirming her suspicions as she drifted into unconsciousness. How could I have known if she could have heard me, and if she did whether she fully understood.

I awoke the next morning in a haste of many broken fragments of past dreams. Dreams about Ryan and the dormitory crashing down upon him, and nightmares about Isabella screaming in pain from the terrible name embedded in her Grandmother's inheritance. The sun had not risen, but the deep orange glow proceeded in the hills from the East, allowing small flickers of light to illuminate the room I resided in. My hands, dry and worn, caressed against my eyelids trying to remove the night's wear and tear of astonishing and disturbing events. For some time, I laid there gazing every now and then at the lump in the covers, noticing Isabella was still sound asleep. I liked being with her because it gave me a strength I knew mankind could never understand, let alone care.

Here are the few notes that I added to the list of fascinating facts of thee Isabella Granger: She never snored as she slept. She never drooled or soaked any part of the fabric on the sheets or pillowcase. She never bothered to clean her make-up off her face because it seemed as though she wore none. She never let her hair out of the tight-wound bun it had been placed in to fend off the creepy-crawlers of the night. She never twitched or shuttered when I embraced her small frame of which remained warm underneath the covers of the bed I slept at the bottom of during the entire night.

At first, she nestled into my chest brushing the confined strains off her arms and legs. I felt an instant reaction to wrap my arms around her intertwining our legs for seconds at a time until they clicked perfectly into place. Our bodies were connected through a series of divisions which both of us rejected at one time or another. Right here and right now, it felt right to connect with Isabella Granger. Her hair brushed the bottom of my chin as she began to stretch before opening her eyes to object.

"Cedric," She growled, shoving my chest back as I removed myself, confused of the intention.

"Bella," I didn't mean to offend her modesty, standing off to her beside wearing nothing but boxers. Her arms collide over her chest which revealed more skin than the shirt and shorts early last night. My eyes stayed glued to her absurd behavior, observing her nature of clothed markings made by her emotions.

"Please go." One step toward the incident, and her eyes began to tear. I wanted to comfort her, but it appeared that comfort was the last thing she wanted in return.

* * *

"Good grief!" Maggie yells from downstairs after I rushed to put my leg through the hole in my jeans. "I can't believe this could have happened..." She huffs exasperated as I reached the entrance to the kitchen.

"What's wrong?" I ask sincerely when she turns to face my presence with a concerned look.

"The paper," Maggie Marvolo mutters sternly, tossing the sheaf of printed paper on the table before returning to the stove. My eyes smolder with curiosity at the headline produced in the flicker of black ink. It read: Sirius Black Escapes Azakaban. "I don't know what would be an even worse cover up for the outrageous headline." She says over the sizzling of bacon and eggs, watching the steam rise carefully as I stood back, appalled before Isabella joined us.

"What's wrong?" Isabella's eyes widen at the sight of the motion picture just below the terrifying headline as we shared each other's generous curiosity within the last few moments.

"This is too bizarre." Granger grips the outer edges of the Daily Prophet upset. I walk dignity alongside her down Diagon Alley, wondering if she could have predicted the outcome of such an event. "It's a cover up, Cedric!" She finally shouts before disposing of the repulsive journalistic piece into a bin. I motion for her to calm down with the slightest raise of my hand. She calms, frightened of my attempt to control any situation like I had this morning.

"We have to be calm about all this, Bella." Her eyes roll as she smirks and turns down an alleyway. "The story was meant to cover up something bigger. Something the Ministry is trying to keep from the community." She stops abruptly with her back turned away, sighing in a rush of excitement.

"Exactly," Isabella turns to face me up close. I freeze on the spot as her eyes switch from the tremendous blue to hazel in an instant. "Whatever it is they're trying to hide...must mean it isn't something they can control. Right?" My mind stutters as I take a breath, easing the stress out of my lungs while resisting to answer. "Fine, Cedric. Don't answer." She flutters her eyelashes in an intimidating way as her hair flies in my face. "It's just..." Bella stops after a few steps are taken. "Things have been happening so fast lately." Those hazel eyes reach for some form of strength. They receive none. "I feel l don't have time to breathe. That, in fact, I can't breathe." Her head rises effortlessly to astound my face with tears. "Do you know the feeling?" She pauses midway between a breakdown to stare at the water jerking within my eyes.

"Yes," I respond as Isabella's head falls downwards, and we embrace each other's fears. "I do." A forceful wind shrills through the alleyway, causing our robes to linger within the intensity before dying down. Our embrace departs, and we encounter chaos disguised as prominent screams expanding through Diagon Alley.

"Expelliarmus!" I cast a spell, shoving Isabella behind me.

The streets were flooded with screaming witches and wizards trying to escape. Stores were being raided as the mayhem was exploited. We stood in the center of all the chaos with our wands outwards as the Death Eaters advanced upon the crowd. My shot was carefully focused on one particular black-hooded figure. Rage boiled within my blood while my eyes flared with an ever smoldering blue flame as I charged straight towards the enemy.

"Cedric!" Isabella screams for me to stop as a green streak crosses my path. My right hand lifts forcefully, flicking the five tips of my fingers towards the glowing beam while watching it evaporate into the still air and hearing more screams erupt from the surrounding spectators.

"Avada Kedavra," The spell lifts from the black-hooded figure's wand again except, this time, I could not reflect or destroy it.

_...the time shall freeze while the fire rages onward and forever._

The flash erupts through the pupils inside my mind's eye as a hand lightly embraces the frozen segment to which the fascinating Isabella Granger predicts amongst the Death Eaters. Every movement and motion is slow within the time as her grip pulls me away from the impending Unforgivable Curse. The medallion-like pendulum flinging ever so slightly away from her chest before returning. The curse took course at another Isabella Granger standing alongside the street corner from before as the one to my side vanishes quickly. Her hands fly upwards as my wand reaches outwards.

"Expelliarmus," I yell, taking every ounce of breath I had left and crossing the disarming spell through the curse. A bright explosion erupts from the alleyway causing sparks to disintegrate twenty feet in the air. Smoke and ash reside as the street corner, from which Isabella Granger stood, was empty.


	10. Veritaserum 09 Tainted Freedom

_**Tainted Freedom**_

* * *

There is so much horror and fear that rages through one's brain after they have lost the most important person in their life. For some reason, I felt the need to deny all the evidence that stood in front of my eyes. The Death Eaters slowly marched forward, following their leader. I wanted revenge for Isabella Granger, and I threw aside all armor before exploding with determined vengeance at the black-cloaked figure.

"Avada Kadevra," The dreaded Unforgivable Curse erupts from his wand as my focus becomes clear. The smell of blood imitating the stamina flowing through my veins. The rush was so intense at the final moment, that my eyes could have gone blank with darkness. That fear followed through, but my plans were not interrupted. My palms reach out while my fingers spread, making the pressure grow as the spell casts a penumbra around the Alleyway before becoming dissolved in the daylight. The Death Eaters had vanished along with their leader, and only I stood amongst the throngs of terrified witches and wizards who began to fall to one knee in praise.

As each head bowed down, it felt as though mine should do the same. But as I watched, I felt an intolerable grievance to flee the scene, to explode somewhere else as my face would become stained with tears for the loss of Isabella. I needed her beside me as if the separation could never withstand the defeat of the unknown threat. I trusted her, and everything she stood for. Her wisdom, her strength, her remembrance would be known. My fists clenched along with my jaw as I drew my head upwards from angst. They all stood before me thinking I was great, that I had done something great; but at the cost of anything, I had believed greatness wasn't my destiny. I fled Diagon Alley.

"Transport," A voice among the shadows conveys a spell that catches me off guard as my head goes blank from the pressure of being thrown into a portal. As my eyelids begin to depart slowly, the place I was in flashes vaguely while whispered conversations fade along with my consciousness. Isabella Granger's smile is the last thing that remains inside my memory.

"Wake up sleepy head," A gentle hand embraces the side of my face as I found the limitations of gravity un-nerving. The fine blond waves flutter in front of my eyes before I start to focus on the light in the room. "We have work to do." The last faint syllables in the sentence cause a spark to emit through my brain cells as Granger's face undoubtedly appears solid and indescribable.

"Isabella," The vagueness begins to wash away from my eyes. "Bella, you won't believe what happened." I state rising in full awareness of her comforting qualities. "You and I, and the green flash, and..." Quiet silence overtakes the room as I notice we were not alone. Isabella laughs during my weak-willed comprehension skills.

"I know." Was everything she needed to say as I rose to my feet.

"Welcome, Cedric Diggory." A deep voice sounds from underneath a blue-cloaked figure with a sash as it walks out of the shadows. "We have waited many years for your return." His hood slowly rises as he pulls it onto his shoulders revealing his identity. Isabella and I gasp at the man whom we had known and trusted since the beginning of all this chaos: Albus Dumbledore.

"Why couldn't you tell us?" Isabella's eyes water a bit from the surprise. I stand alongside pondering the same question while Dumbledore motions for us to follow him.

"Transport," His voice sounds the aggravating spell as we spun around him through the bluish haze, unnatural to the wizarding world. Our footing catches the grass roots as the new scenery paints through our curiosity.

Granger and I lift ourselves from the dirt and grime of the earth. Professor Dumbledore walks a ways ahead as we wait for an invitation to join him. He stops at the round of the hill looking downwards as we approached his flowing cloak. Isabella's fingers flutter to wrap around mine as the wind picks up.

"You were chosen before you were born." Isabella and I exchange glances while he turns to face us. "Just like I have." His palm rests on his chest for only a moment before he paces and explains the rest. "You are alive purely because your fates have been crossed." Her hand clenches slightly as I swallowed remorse. "And," His pacing stops abruptly. "...because the Phoenix Fires are un-consequently your destiny." The winds pull into a tunnel-like embrace featuring a hole from which we became consumed in. "Transport."

* * *

"Avada Kadevra!" The sparks emit in a spiraling effort, threatening to crush my instincts. Within an instant, the light tarnishes into a raining shower of dust. I smirk with satisfaction at Professor Dumbledore as though gloating was the reward for my strength. "Well done, Mr. Diggory." His head bows down as I cross to meet him from the other end of the yard. "Although," He pats the back of my shoulder quickly for praise and then becomes serious. "...greatness is the most unforgivable curse for a wizard to emulate."

I undoubtedly laughed at his seriousness as we stopped mesmerized at the sight of every spell being broken into a million shards of sparks and dust. My gaze turns to Isabella as a witch known as 'Tonks' casts an Unforgivable Curse. Bella deflects the curse except, this time, it erupted into a penumbra of fifty feet, knocking wizards and witches off their own feet, including her trainer. Isabella helps Tonks up off her feet as they laugh and turn their attention to the stunned trainees. She was the first to advance after me. I returned her smile from the top of the hill as everyone in the valley massaged a sore spot. She was absolutely amazing as her smile causes the sun to frown in discomfort.

"Tonks says I'm improving extremely fast, Cedric." Granger states excitedly, watching my reaction change into one of concerned interest. "Oh, come on." She slaps the side of my shoulder, urging me to express a shyness amongst my qualities. I resist for the time being. "Before you know it... I'll catch up to you." Her fingers trace the shoulder she had previously slapped to mimic a crawling spider as I flinched.

I watched her walk off to a table of her own as I received the last item on my dinner tray. The sun was fading slightly in the distance, but it would be a couple of hours before it drenched us in darkness. Tents were situated around the grounds with torches for when the natural light became extinguished. I breathed out slowly taking each step as though it had to be took. My eyes always lingered over faces until it felt familiarized with Granger's. As I approached the crowd of student trainees, each head turned to acknowledge my modesty. Isabella stops eating to stare as though this were the first situation that made it worthy to really look at my composure. My breath held itself till I made it to the back near the table of Fire Trainers, one of which included a wise, old, crooked nosed, Headmaster of Hogwarts.

"Sirius Black is a cold-blooded murderer, Dumbledore." A man they called 'Lupin' protested. Tonks becomes restless of the insult which held no evidence as her hair changed from a hot pink to a deep red.

"Speaking of 'Cold-Blooded' animals." She raps her nails against the wood click-clacking each with an intolerable effort of animosity. Her eyes change back to blue while her hair returns to the familiar hot pink color while Lupin extends his response.

"Mind you, Tonks. I haven't had your temper while having the urge to feast." Lupin bites the piece of meat off his golden fork with a smirk similar to my arrogance. Tonks acts flustered by the remark, but her hair fades to green.

"I believe Sirius has had his fair share of misconceptions." Albus states to end the conversation as the torches light with a flicker of his hand. I gazed at his posture, noticing the secret he was attempting to hide from his minority.

"Goodnight, Mr. Diggory." Fred and George say in sync with one another before passing an arm over each of my shoulders. I wince at first and then say goodnight to the Weasley twins. My path is cluttered with wanderers, wondering where I stood on my pedestal. Even in this world, I was still held up by something I didn't understand.

"Night, Cedric." Neville Longbottom shakes my hand roughly as I cross through the crowd determined to make it to my tent before morning.

"Goodnight, Mr. Cedric Diggory." Isabella mimics the phrase a few third year girls sang as they passed by giggling and blushing. My face gets red quickly as she stops to grab my wrist, pulling me off to the side. A few sighs erupt from the cluster of heart breakers as I blushed over in the bushes standing next to Isabella Granger. She made me feel uneasy during these circumstances and uncontrollably in confident as though I needed to melt into a liquid substance to make her happy.

"What do you want from me, Granger?" I ask as though this summer school program had separated our departure to the way it was at Hogwarts. It was, but somehow different. She smirks the way I did whenever I knew something bad would result.

"Can you promise to do me a favor, Cedric?" Isabella smiles flirtatiously with her eyelashes, causing me to burst out laughing. "I'm dead serious." I stop immediately and regain a solid complexion of certainty: one I had learned to mimic for ages in front of my father.

"How can I promise to do something if I have no idea what it is?" I ask sternly, causing her to fake a thought of interesting fathom. Then when she laughs, I sigh frustrated.

"Just promise me." Those simple words exhausted my strength for argument as I gave in to her demands.

"Fine," I huff out shaking her hand as though we had already signed a contract for our souls.

"Don't quit Quidditch this year." She states consequently.

"I thought that was for me to decide." I bark at her, making her react instantaneously. Her eyes faltered to the ground before looking back up to mine. I rest the majority of my hurtful words on the tip of my tongue while she takes seconds to respond.

"It was until our fates became crossed with one another."

* * *

Chirping birds guided me towards the morning light as the tent refracted the rays of endless light pouring through the opening. Mornings, usually all of them, never struck a cord with me. The light always irritated the known circumstance of daily duties and compromises decisions. But, this break at dawn made me realize that all those pre-disposed feelings of longevity and disturbance were nothing except a figment of my imagination from a life I once lived. Another new happiness consumed the very air as well: I was free from demands unless I so chose to abide by them.

"Morning, Cedric." Oliver Wood greets me before I toss a jacket around my shoulders in order to shield out the cold air. Frost covered the green grass from the gap in the hole of the tent.

Surprised at his cheery attitude, I comply. "Morning."

He rises after ducking underneath the material to enter the sanctuary. I remained frozen in a muddled state of confusion. Still, without making eye-contact, my hand hovers over the covers of the sheets which straightened themselves with a mere flick of the fingers. Naturally, wizards were suppose to feel useless without wands by their sides. I, until this given moment, never had the fear of mortality. I felt the strength in my magic getting stronger each day Dumbledore trained me to control its intensity. Wood rarely said many words besides a greeting and goodbye before he stumbled off to find Granger.

"Hey," Silence overtook us both as though I imagined the voice. Retreating back to the sound, I turn to acknowledge his prescience. "How's the training going?" Wood asks nicely to cover the awkward instigation to the conversation. I consistently avoided any conversation with the Gryffindor Captain during the duration of the Summer. That was until now.

Blowing a heave of hot air, I nod expectantly. "It's intense." Our eyes lock for a second in the revelation of the system. "Ah, Dumbledore insists on training me the most." That was unless Lupin trained me outside of hours on controlling my emotions during the incantations. I still hadn't mastered everything I had been taught. And when it came to that specific category, I was the worst failure.

"I think he expects a lot from you is all." My head cocks to one side in distinction to the comment. "I mean, you're the reason we're all here." Wood stands in place of the refuge he had taken on the chair. "And, I don't mean that in a negative way, Diggory." Walking across the kitchen area, he slows to take a sip of water from the cup by the sink. After the intake, he emerges from the brief break. "Whatever it is that we have yet to fight for must be worth a lot of patience to him, to you, and to us."

This would be the only moment in which I saw eye to eye with him. Because we all had something, or someone, worth sacrificing our lives for. Regardless of the outcome, the enemy and the bloodshed, we knew why the strongest of our kind had survived for many generations to come. So, we could protect and continue to avenge those who had fallen before our souls had given birth to a new life with a tainted freedom amongst even the youngest of our fellow generation.

I huff out a stifled laugh. "We fight for a purpose, I guess." And, I knew how big of a purpose I would always fight for because there was the one heartbeat I couldn't regret hearing the sound of. She would always be worth my sacrifice.

A ways down the line of tents stood the open field for training. Few of the early risers could be seen casting glows of magic across the brightly lit hill. I stood quiet before observing the surrounding senses. Flowers encased my nostrils for a bleak smell as I tipped my head down at the orchid in front of our house tent. Lilies enveloped the entire backside of the path until they stopped at the brick path that connected the rows of other pitched tents who occupants still slept in a slumber. The lilies were laced with gold and maroon amongst the stark white inside. At closer inspection, I found them to open upon response. Curious, I bent down to look at the beautiful display of precision. Further inwards on the petals, there were embossed words in gold lettering reading: I'm sorry, Cedric.

"You know," Startled by the intrusion behind me, I jolt upwards. "-when I was your age, I didn't understand what could be more powerful than magic." Lupin, soon to be the next Professor of mastering the Dark Arts, cradles the thought on the edge of his tongue. "See you at sun-down, Mr. Diggory." His voice recedes as he ponders over a glance where Tonks stood. I motion a hand over the lilies, concealing my own message in canary yellow and black with burning embers torching the insides of the petals splashed with white.

"How was training with Dumbledore?" Fred Weasley comes up from behind me after sunset.

Startled, I concur the interrogation. "Same old, same old." Even though my voice cracked at the statement, I could read through his intentions of small talk. Something seemed off about his prance. "Why?" I dared to ask.

"Ah, it's nothing really." Again, an eyebrow raises to extend in a manner of tension.

"You're better off telling me whatever it is-" George interrupts my conclusion.

"Oh good, you found him." He says out of breath from being in a hast. From what, I couldn't guess. "Did you tell him-" A loud crackle of noise erupts down the line of tents near our bunker. Subsequent to the reaction, the other tent houses repeat the exact motion in a domino effect, each rising and falling until they reached past our stances.

"Well, this is an awkward time to ask a favor-" Fred shrugs his shoulders and scrunches his face in repetition much like Ryan's would after an extreme incident of ignorance.

George huff out a puff of air while looking wide-eyed at his twin brother. "Oh good, so you didn't tell him?" Laughing seemed so far fetched at this point that I groaned in effort to release the unknown stress. I had just gotten every spell thrown at me by one of the most well-known wizards of all time and now, I was expected to diffuse a problem, unaware of the consequences that followed. This would be awesome.

"Please, Cedric." They sing in sync with one another.

I shrug defiantly. "I'm not even sure I can-" Damn, their faces looked so down-trotted that I actually whimpered myself. "Alright." I state unsure of the result. By this point, all the house tents began to float like majestic lanterns in the night sky. Both the twins smirked at the scene, obviously enthralled with the reaction from the crowd. "Let's see what we can do."

My eyes closed in concentration. Dumbledore could solve this problem, but he waited for a cause, waited for me to react. Again, I tried to isolate the current moment into a memory, much like the old ones that consumed my dreams. And then my mind came across one of Isabella. One of her laughing like life couldn't be anymore entertaining. She tousled her hair to the side, smiling at my gaze like she had so many times that I couldn't keep track. Then, ever so slightly, the smile that emitted a glow so effortlessly began to shrink into tensed grimace. Her emotion changed to one of absolute terror and when the fear subsided from her muscles, she wept, ever so quietly, bringing forth a new tolerance to the pain she felt. I wanted to reach out to her, to heal her. But, I knew she had fought this feeling over and over again, refusing to let it claim its victim.

A teardrop encapsulated my eyes as they gained a strong sense of heat, the natural burning sensation of power surging through the capillaries made it distinct. My eyes open to see the skies darkened by clouds while rain began to down pour over the selective tents yet to receive their spots on the ground. Upon the surrounding hill, I can see the stature of a man with a crooked nose and a white beard as he removes his spectacles. He is no man to the ordinary eye, though. He is a great wizard and one, of which I have failed to meet his expectations in midst of mindless shortcomings.

"Wow," Wood pops his head out of the tent to catch the last of the droplets to fall before the air turns cool from the natural light of the Sun. "I didn't know you could make it rain." He smiles, laughing at the wet ground where puddles had formed into muddy trenches.

"Neither did we," The Weasley twins state together.

* * *

Feeling defeated instead of triumphant, I walked past the brush of known territory to the outskirts of the boundary lines. No one ever ventured past these trees for fear of punishment. As real as everything felt, some described the encapsulated camp as having set markers for possible threats, such as Death Eaters, Dementors, or even the unknown witch or wizard intending to harm. I found it comforting in knowing that the area was remote enough for no other leaving creature to reside. None in which I could have possibly felt threatened by.

"Isabella?" Apparently, I was wrong about the previous statement.

"Cedric," Her voice chimes at the distance between the two of us. I immediately stop on the spot.

"Stop." I point my wand as the figure erases the space.

Her smirk confides my attitude of trustworthiness. My mouth begins to sneer at the creature. For, she resembled my muse in every aspect but one. "There's no need for wands, Mr. Diggory." Lupin states, walking out from behind a tree. The Granger duplicate in front of me, changes her hair to that of bright neon pink.

"Tonks?" I say as she shape shifts into her original form. "Nice work, I must say." Waving a hand off to Lupin, I clap as Tonks bows in recognition for her suitable trickery.

"What gave it away?" She asks as Lupin joins in a stance besides her.

"Her eyes are hazel, not brown." Stating this, she nods in note of the one flaw of character.

Lupin pats her shoulder as she shrugs in a sincere apology. "I guess I should have done more research."

"You did fine, Tonks." She collects her cloak on the forest floor before excusing herself. "Given the fact that I acquired your expertise only an hour ago, you did brilliant!" He shouts after her. She turns a cheer to grin politely before emerging through the gap in the brush. Tonk's hair switched from a bright pink to that of lavender, a color which I'd never noticed on her. Grinning back at Lupin, he snaps back to our meeting.

"Ah-hem," I urge his training.

"Right," He starts off. "I saw the magic you displayed earlier this evening, Cedric." The muscles around my mouth tense in a disappointed outcome of results. He glances back through the path, noticing the change in appearance. "It was completely you-" Lupin states as we climb higher onto the hill near the center. "-and whatever emotion resided over you at that moment." We come to a halt at the top where the view extends to the tents over in the distance. Miniature lights resonated above the haze of fog hovering low to the ground. "What were you thinking about? If you don't mind me asking?"

At first, I'm thrown off-guard by the question. Soon, I come to realize why he even asked. "Can I ask you a question?" I begin, knowing he would find the answer in his own responses.

"Anything," He states.

"Is there anything you would give up more than your own life if it meant the one person you care about still could be happy?" Uncertain of Lupin's response, I drifted off into my own thought process. For the first night in about a month since the training period started, he didn't expect me to cast a spell. It was purely because of his reaction to this evening's event that had him intrigued about what gifts I hadn't mastered or even prevailed to accept on my own.

"What more would there be to give up if not life?" The crescent moon cast a glow much like the Sun but in a different aspect of light, one in which I hadn't realized. Things must look different all the time, just like how I appear to see things and situations in their exact times. But looking towards the Professor at this time, he looked as though he, too, was lost in thought. Something, I had ignored. "There will come a time, when everything you haven't been told will make sense. I promise you that. Some things are worth keeping the truth from because they are what keep us alive and allow us to protect -even the ones we love." I look over to him in order to reflect on his words. "It's not weakness, Cedric, but a strength."

* * *

For months, we trained constantly hoping for a break. On the last day of the Summer, every face contained a gloomy subsided smile as though we would never have another gathering like this ever again. In my mind, I couldn't help but think they might actually be right. I had taken Isabella's promise through the past two months because I didn't even know the answer myself. If I gave in and accepted it, I would be giving into my father's requests. As though his prerequisites of being his son, consisted of nothing but Quidditch. The small freedom I had wanted and had for most of the Summer began to close little by little. I had no idea whether Isabella saw the light closing upon me as I had since the beginning of that Summer.

"I hope to see some familiar faces this year." Dumbledore jokes as the attentive audience laughs. I smirk myself before grimacing at the lone fact of my imprisonment. Isabella smiles over a few rows behind me as I contain the painful knot enclosing around my throat. "And," Every head listens abruptly in silence, watching his posture change ever so suddenly. "If you find yourself in any trouble, know that help will always be given to those who ask of it." His eyes center on mine before departing from the eruption of fireworks in the midnight sky.

The crowd of trainees begins to clap while the Fire Trainers rise from their chairs. I also stand as to follow the source of disruption. A tent off to the side of the stadium, about forty feet away, sparks another firework into the air. Smoke instantly covers the grounds as more go off without any leads to the cause. Dumbledore rushes at a instant, shooting a disarming spell to rip the tent of its concealment. The audience screams in horror at first from the loud noise, and then calms down into a subtle, than raging, fit of laughter as Fred and George Weasley stand in place of the smoke and debris. A shuttle had just erupted from Fred's arms, making his face blackened with smoke.

"Such a waste of entertainment." George hollers out while Fred and him snicker from the impending judgment and punishment of the Fire Trainers. One glance at Isabella makes me wince as she covers her mouth holding back laughter. I stood trying to persuade myself to see the humor in all that had happened.

_"Ryan would have liked it to be me too."_

"Transport."

"Where have you been, Cedric?!" Amos Diggory hollers as I appear in the foyer of our home. I walk past him, crossing to the kitchen table where my bag had been left since day one. "I need to know where you've been." He clutches my arm, causing me to pause before reaching the door.

"And, I suppose the Ministry requires you to question your one and only son." I state matter-of-factly, crushing his hopes of sincere worry. My glare said everything I thought of my father.

"Your mother's dead, Cedric!" My back faces him as I reach for the doorknob ready to leave. Even the nape of my neck fell ever so slightly as the impact hit my nerves.

"You're lying!" I turn around, gripping his jacket forcefully, almost breaking down in front of him. "She's not... dead." The bottom of my legs give out underneath me as I fell into a greater darkness than the midnight sky from last night. Father tries to embrace the hurtfulness between the sobs that caused me to lose all control. "She's not dead." I repeated over and over again, making the lie become the truth.

The whistle from the Hogwarts Express disrupts my thoughts from that morning. I felt the pain as fresh as an open wound. Every now and again, it bled for the sake of humility, and I wished for it to stop. Jake sat across from me silently knowing the feeling of being left alone in the cruel world with nothing. No one to love, nothing to hope for, and anything but time to pass as the blood began to run cold; the warmth of my heart freezing ever so slowly allowing me to block the one fact I was certain of: I would not quit Quidditch.


	11. Veritaserum 10 Diminishing Dispositions

_**Diminishing Dispositions**_

* * *

"Are you sure about this, Cedric?" Jake questions my answer of returning to the sport for the third time in a row as we begin to head out onto the field. I swallow, trying to convince myself that this is what I wanted all along. Not because of Isabella and not because of my mother. This is what I wanted.

"Yes." I state one last time by giving him the final look of judgment.

"Good, because if you change your mind again..." He motions off onto the field. "...this won't be the last tryout I'll have to endure." My eyes roll at his sincere intention of 'pissing' me off. The fabric on the inside of my cloak blows upwards against the subtle wind as my hand fingers my frayed and burnt pocket. I grimace while Jake follows not far behind me, waiting to judge.

"Testing... one, two, three." Jake shouts into the Muggle device called a 'microphone', trying to get the sound in check. He taps the end, smirking an embarrassed look over at me while I sit with my arms crossed in an effort to remain serious. "...'Ello is this thing on?!" A screech finally spats out into sound waves, causing the players to flinch and the closest people to the mic to cover their ears in agony.

"Jake!" I yell after the last remaining echoes die down.

"Alright, let's get going." Again, my palm finds comfort in shielding my face from the known embarrassment of having him as a friend. "I'm Jake Grindelwald, one of the former Hufflepuff Chasers this season." He shoves the mic over to my side of the table, allowing a screech to erupt.

"And, I'm Cedric Diggory," A couple of the girl players swoon as I grin from recognition. "...And this season, I will be taking the title of Hufflepuff Seeker." Whispers grow as each head turns left and then right, trying to give the just of the situation I was placed in. Jake eyes me surprised, thinking that leaving Quidditch would have been nothing short of betrayal. "As you all know, our team has suffered a severe lost this past season." Trying not to sound corny was the last attempt a wizard could make as the mic gets thrown off the table. Jake runs after it like a 'cold-blooded' animal would, giving me a stare when he returns.

"This use to be my father's Cedric!" Jake Grindelwald whisper-shouts now that the mic was officially dead. I grit my teeth at the impending sting left from my mother's disappearance. My feet lift from the ground as I steady my posture on the fragile table, trying to make matters worse.

"Just listen." I finally say over the commotion of misplaced words. Jake crosses his arms to stand back and watch my un-nerving behavior. "Ryan Anderson was one of the best Seekers we have ever had. As Captain of the Hufflepuff Quidditch Team, I will only return under these circumstances." The crowd thins and then goes silent.

"For those of you who feel I have made a mistake, leave the field now. I want nothing to do with you." More players remove themselves from the field, scowling every bit of the way as I gaze past their unworthy glares. "I don't have time to play stupid games. Those of you who are left may, or may not receive the title of Hufflepuff Chaser. But know this," I jump down from the table in front of them, causing their spines to straighten. "I will not tolerate a team-mate who supports his friends first before his house." My back turns on the frightened players as Jake unsurprising sits down in the chair beside me, noticing that this is what I wanted from the beginning.

"Daniels, Claire." A dark-haired brunette steps from the circle. She nods in apprehension of her name, unscathed by the monologue. "Let's see what you got." Her smirk catches my glare off guard, making me cough into my fist for comfort. Shyness wasn't one of my better qualities. Jake shifts his eyes over towards me in an unconvinced manner of team-mates first, friends second.

She takes off into the air while I mount my broom and fly to the center of the three hoops. Jake tosses the ball into the air as Daniels grips the first swerve smoothly. I remained still for a moment as though frozen before seeing how she intended to surprise me. After all, if Oliver Wood could block a quaffle then I should have no trouble...

"Ten points." Claire's strands of hair whaps me square in the face as I picked the fall-line of the quaffle before it hit the ground. Wood apparently has his work cut out for him. I wasn't going to give up just because a pretty-flirty, brunette-haired, bobble-head could get a shot past me.

"Cedric, what the 'hell' are you doing up there?!" Jake spats from down below as I stick my tongue out at him, tossing the quaffle to the other end of the field. Claire's face smirks again just before she takes leave to fly after the ball. My arm was still in good shape. That would be the only upside to my Quidditch skills.

Daniels carefully takes aim against the brutal winds as they magically pick up, making my disadvantage stronger as my broom starts to quiver out of control. On the ground, gasps from many of the girls holding their breath, float through the air. The guys on the other hand were contempt at grimacing when the impact finally came. Jake covers his mouth in a hurry, not to let the impending hit affect my social status. From the moment the winds became a whirlwind sucking in the air from the outside in, Claire Daniels rams into the highest of the three goal posts, slamming us both through the hoop. My head had only lifted a second before the jostling crunch as our broomsticks broke in two. Like the quaffle, we too, were getting pulled towards the ground at a fast rate.

"Transport."

* * *

We fall through a haze of white clouds onto dampen earth. Claire makes a clash a few yards away from me through the fog. I could hardly decipher her features at a distance like this, but I was sure she wasn't moving or breathing. For the minute it took for the impact to settle in with the surreal portal unknown to the wizarding world, my eyes widen at the shock of what I had just done.

"Claire," I kneel down close to hear for breathing. It was faint wisps of air that collided with my face. My muscles tense at the very real reality of death. Maybe that was how Death Eaters got their name? They were an unnatural breed who feasted on souls leaving the person's body much like the Dementors, only they had been addicted to the killings and stench of death that followed.

"Ced-ric." A raspy, breathless voice tries to vocalize from her lips.

"It's alright," I try to slip my palms underneath her back in order to lift her stature up. "I'm going to fix this, okay. Just stay still." Raising her body an inch off the ground proved to be impossible as she groans in agony, wishing I would have just left her alone. I wince at the problem, thinking that another second later we would be out of this foreign place.

"No, stop!" She shudders over onto her side, starting to cringe from the bruised spot. Her shaking becomes more erratic as her veins bulge throughout her body. A faint streak of a blue vein from her left wrist goes black as Claire instinctively puts a palm to her forehead, unaware of what was happening.

"Claire?" The deep breathing technique intensifies my fear for confronting her bizarre behavior. My right hand lands on her shoulder, trying to help her gain strength. I can feel my eyelids weigh down as I had begun to reopen them, knowing some of my strength was deteriorating.

_...Rain upon ember..._

"Cedric," The voice becomes echoes inside my head as I start to lose consciousness. While trying immensely hard to avoid the darkened blackness inside my own head that would replay every tragedy from the beginning, a droplet of rain plunges down onto my cheek followed by others.

"Transport." I grip Claire Daniels firmly on the wrist, focusing on the destination where we would be transported: out of sight and out of mind.

* * *

"What the hell just happened out there?!" I rush to the hospital wing, carrying Claire within my arms as Jake probes for a direct explanation to my disappearing act. My eyes avoid his until I gently set her body on a bed, motioning for Madam Pomfry to check the cuts and bruises. "I mean, you don't just fall from the sky and pull a vanishing act out of nowhere." A brief glare gives him the memo to stay quiet as the nurse tends to the patient, and I pull the hood of his robe outside the entrance. "What I don't understand is how you both managed to reappear just outside the Forbidden Forest. I know the winds were pretty strong but still-" I interrupt Jake's talking, allowing him to breathe for the first time in the past five minutes.

"Shut up, Jake." I whisper-shout threateningly, watching his face become contorted in a look of curiosity to my cover-up story. At a moments notice, I was suppose to explain how the minority I belonged to called the Phoenix Fires un-consequently trained me over the Summer to prepare for Voldemort's return, which is why I was able to convey a powerful whirlwind from my internal instincts at the back of my mind and send myself and Claire through a portal to a parallel universe that no witch or wizard has ever imagined. Yeah, he'll lose track of the entire lengthy sentence after covering his ears from the mention of Voldemort's name and then continue to ask, "What?" even though he heard loud and clear everything I told him. "The winds were extremely strong..." My hands mimic a 'whooshing' circular motion over and over again. "...kind of like a whirlwind...or tunnel...or..." I stretch the last word out to convince Jake the incident had nothing unusual about it.

"You mean... like a tornado?" His eyebrow raises.

"R-right -yes," I spurt out right away. "Like a tornado." He squints, thinking I've lost part of my brain on the grounds. "Exactly." I finish saying, watching his curiosity sink slowly into a determined plead to help me return to normal, or as normal as a witch or wizard could be at Hogwarts for that matter.

Claire Daniels was taken into Madam Pomfry's care for the next week or so while the school remained in a turmoil after the second day's event took place. Dumbledore notified the Ministry about the Dementors flying into the castle-ground's boundaries to the school in order to hush the chaos. I knew better to believe the rumors than believe the wise Headmaster that tried to hide the truth. How much of the year's past events had been true or blown out of proportion? There was no way to know unless one obtained a view on the side that saw the truth behind the lies. Jake, of course, wouldn't talk about the accident and if I had to guess what he openly admitted to responding to a question, it would be the shortest of replies he'd ever given anyone: tornado.

"That was one of the worst tryouts I... have... ever... seen." Jake's eyes become big with exhaustion and frustration as we flop down on the Common Room chairs. I take a seat across from him on the couch, stretching my legs out from the bruised shortcomings. "Has anyone in this House flown on a broomstick?" My grin arises from my sore muscles, grimacing from the pain in my leg. "Honestly, we would be better off with a pole dancer than the stumbling, uncoordinated idiots that attempted to fly tonight." His laugh echoes in the empty room since we remained the last ones there. A scratch gets caught somewhere within my throat as I retained my laughter in an attempt to gain seriousness.

"Daniels should get the spot." I state sincerely while Jake drops his wand surprised at the notion.

"What?" He laughs, and I remain stable, staring at his awkward appearance. "I mean... what?" Jake continues to sputter more chokes of laughter through the sentence, making the solution sound irrational. "You are not..." I nod a simple gesture as he comes to the conclusion. "...you are serious." Grindelwald bows his head into his hands only to release the pressure and meet my gaze again. "Why her?"

"Because she was the only one who knocked me off my broomstick."

"Claire, wait." I rushed after Daniels on the first floor corridor the next morning once she had been released from Madam Pomfry's care. She slows a fair bit but acts as though it wasn't important enough to fully stop. "Claire." A breath escapes my flushed face as she turns around flipping, her loose strands over her shoulder.

"What?" Her eyes narrow fiercely on my confidence while I stood there intimidated.

"Welcome to the Hufflepuff Quidditch Team." I toss the issued robes that sported the crest of the badger on the breast pocket and the mixed colors of canary yellow and black. Claire smiles briefly before rolling her eyes in a know-it-all way when submerged in a group of pretenders. "Practice starts at seven." The sarcastic yell about punctuality as I retreated to the other end of the hall to reach the staircase caused her to huff out a breath of hot air for actually succeeding in something and having some form of dedication to it.

"I quit!" Claire dismounts onto the ground, throwing the Clean Sweep several yards over.

"You can't just quit." I retort to her stubbornness.

"Yes... I can." She crosses her arms, glaring at me as I land in front of her, clutching the worn and torn broomstick further into my palm from impatience. "That broom's defective." Her index finger points at the frail stick lying in the grass a few yards away and then returning to my unchanging sympathy for such a pampered and spoiled witch.

"Maybe it's not the broom that's defective." Jake Grindelwald dismounts behind me, whispering low enough for snickers to erupt from the players watching the scene and loud enough for Claire to decipher through the aggravation.

"Whatever, I'm done." Daniels storms off the field to the changing tents. I turn to look at Jake as though he could have left the jokes in the locker room where they belonged.

"What?" Jake smirks, uncaring as though she was nothing but dead weight.

"You know what, Jake." My eyes roll up in angst at his stupid remarks and endless humor. "At least when Ryan pulled a prank or said a joke, nobody got hurt." I say sarcastically while walking away.

"Last thing I remember about Ryan Anderson was the lone fact that he ruined 'our' Quidditch season and put our loyalty on the line." The couple of players that remained behind him supported this fact as I turned back around.

"Our 'season' was gone long before Ryan's mistake." I show an extra 'fact' by quoting the word season because we never had one. "In case you've forgotten the circumstances of which the Curse was removed, or the terror that struck the school." Grindelwald smirks knowingly as though this card in my hand had already been predicted to be played. "But I guess getting the 'facts' straight involved reading the trashed and unedited version of the Daily Prophet." My back turns away at the final sentence while my robes swoosh outwards, leaving my players blind to reality.

"Is that why you decided to quit Quidditch, or did the newspaper headline get the facts wrong?" I stop short several paces ahead of him, not wanting to face the facts.

"Just remember Jake..." I stare straight at him. "...House first, friends second."

* * *

"Claire," I groan in a sorrowful way, batting my eyelashes and pouting my lips.

"No!" She retorts skillfully, turning her path away from me after practice on the second floor corridor.

"Please, don't quit." I beg, sounding pitiful. Claire taps her chin for a second.

"No."

"Merlin's beard, can't you think about anybody but yourself?!" Daniels backs up after turning around to confront my wrongful impression. If she had went straight for the bitchy-witchy attitude, I would have given up a long time ago. But, I didn't.

"I would if I had a decent broom to fly, but oh wait..." I slouch down a bit at the intention she was giving towards the situation: blame.

"It's just a broom! It doesn't make the player." I sound horse as though I swallowed a giant pill full of endorsement for being a philosopher. She keeps a straight face, unwilling to crack.

"This coming from a Quidditch Captain who can afford nothing but the best." Claire Daniels mocks my father's cruelty with a strategy of her own.

"Fine." I mutter, giving in to her wishes. She wraps her arms around me, placing a kiss on my right cheek after her completed mission. When Claire walks away, I can't resist envying her smooth strategy of determination and flirtation.

So, I made a deal with Lord Voldemort himself. I promised Claire Daniels a certified broom that was top of the line. One that hadn't even been released to the public. My father expected Jake was the wizard who needed a new broom and discarded the possibility of his son trying to make ends meet with a Quidditch team who didn't respect his rules.

Silence was all I had to endure for the remainder of the week until a folded piece of paper in the shape of a flower projected onto the table during dinner that Friday. I switched my eyes to focus on the sender in the room as my fingers fidgeted with the complicated paperweight. After I had finished reading the few words scribbled on the inside, dinner ended.

"What's the meaning of this?" I toss the crumpled note next to Isabella as I reached the front steps of the castle to meet her. Her head was enclosed within her arms, shielding apart of the human qualities she had been given from her grandmother.

"Your mother-"

"What about my mother?" I snap back at her.

"She was killed by a Death Eater, Cedric." Isabella looks up sorrowful, wondering if I understood. "They are rising again, and we are the only ones who can stop them." She rises herself, wiping the tears from her cheeks and walking into the castle.

"We are not alone." I state behind her as she turns around to give a brief smile of disbelief.


End file.
